Is This Oxymoronic?

Think about this: The Fifty Greatest Conservative Rock Songs. Apparently not to the National Review. Here's a commentary I found on the Huffington Post, where you can link to the whole sordid article.

By the way.. "Wouldn't It Be Nice" aside.. the Beach Boys's Pet Sounds was one bitchin' album. (And we were conveniently ignoring the "abstinence message" back in the '60s anyway... isn't that right dear?)

Speaking of Underwear..

We rarely stop at campgrounds that have cable TV.. and we don't have a dish, so discovering Fuse TV was quite a revelation last night. Proof that anyone.. maybe even me.. will do anything for money. You gotta see Pants Off- Dance Off. I can't think of anything to add.

Boxers, Briefs, or.......?

Never know what you're going to read at Slate.com, as the above link will show. Gotta admit, I like the 3rd option in cold weather, but in the hot, sticky stuff we've got going on now... going "commando" is preferable. Lessons from Vietnam well learned.

Where to Next...?

While it's fun to report, and opinionate, it's always good to be reminded what this blog-thing is really all about for us. The reminder came last weekend at the ASFA II when probably no fewer than a dozen people (probably more- I wasn't counting- but enough that I was astonished by the volume) asked: "Where you guys off to next?" Well, for their benefit and yours, here it is:

This weekend we're at Purina Farms, Gray Summit, MO for LGRA. Photography and racing (if other greyhounds are present.)

Next weekend- off. We were originally planning on another LGRA/WRA meet in Antioch, IL, but the VA called me and wanted me to come on over next Friday to cut some more out of my back.

June 23-25 The "Ridgeback Rodeo", in Pennsylvania. This one should be interesting.

July 1-2 Michigan Gazehound Assoc., ASFA trial, Metamora, MI
Jully 3 RRCUS specialty trial, same place.

July 8-9 LGRA, Oberlin, OH.

Aug 5-6 LGRA, Lewisville IN "On the banks of the ..... whatever creek it is" (Good dog cooling stuff.)

Autumn will be full, and will be posted later. As you can see, there are lots of holes in our Summer schedule. Holes that are sorely in need of filling, if we're to survive the season, and put gas in the beast... I mean the "Express". We could use some suggestions, here. Including non-dog things: art shows, little league baseball, soccer, horses, etc. This is our cry for help!

Dan's Latest, Greatest Tee-Shirt Design

Maybe not quite as daring as the "Freedom is...." shirt, but may have more mass appeal, especially among the Full Time RV set, who are our kindred spirits. I think it looks good on black. Margaret likes light blue. And it will be evolving, as we're never running out of "roads", (witness Colorado 94 in a previous posting.) $20 bucks. 

Interesting Developments From Across the Pond

In light of the recent demise of AB2110, I thought it might be of interest to see what's been developing in Great Britain.. where the ban on hunting with hounds emboldened the ARistas in California. One year on, the hunts go on. Read about it here and here.

Desolation Row

As promised... Colorado State Hwy 94. Somewhere between Ellicot and US-40. Not many people.. lots of Kamikaze flying insects, as shown on the windshield. Photo by Margaret. 

Buffy & Fanny See Gran'pa

This is the image that was supposed to appear in a previous post. We took the girls in to the Greyhound Hall of Fame to see their very famous relative..




As you can see, they were duly impressed, shocked, and awed.

Not sure why these images wouldn't load in the previous post, but they made it here. The mysteries of Java script, I guess.

ASFA II - Weekend's Best Images!

Pharaoh Hounds are not true "coursing hounds". But they are sighthounds- that is, they hunt by sight. Their true hunting style is similar to the Ibizan Hound, which hunts in heavy cover by leaping high to get a view of the prey. This Pharaoh Hound, "Emma", made the mistake of getting offline, and ending up in the dry "pond". I waited, for her to re-appear, and was rewarded with the following sequence. Up in the air, and looking for the lure.








There are more. When time allows. Most of the good stuff happens when the dogs cheat. Just a fact of life in lure coursing.

Travelling East.... and pictures!

This is why we ain't going to make it to Lexington, KY for the Saluki specialty this year. Yesterday we left Falcon, CO- site of the 2006 ASFA International Invitational. Possibly the most low key so-called "premier event" in my memory; at least since the last one held in Falcon.

Anyway, we travelled a whopping 200 miles. All the way to Quinter, KS. We took the "scenic" route. Sane people heading East, would drive the 3 or 4 miles back to US-24 in Falcon, and follow it Northeast through the relativly "civilized" ..ie: populated, areas to Limon, where you can then hop on I-70 and go downhill into Kansas. Not us. We meandered a few miles East on Falcon Hwy, to Peyton Hwy, then South about 6 miles to Colorado 94. Back on I-70 East, several days ago, I noticed the billboard trumpeting this as the "most direct route to Colorado Springs and Pikes Peak area". So we took it as the most direct route back to I-70. Makes sense, right? Once we got on 94 and headed East, we were confronted with the white-knuckle billboard: "No motorist services, next 95 Miles". About halfway to the intersection of 94 and US 40, I found myself humming Dylan's "Desolation Row". Not only were there no motorist services, there were damn few people. Between the last population center of Ellicot, and Wild Horse on 40 there were only the crossroad villages with maybe 30-50 hardy souls, total. The rest was filled with miles and miles and miles of nothing. Beautiful big country. And you get a real understanding of why it's called "Big Country". Images are still in the camera, but we'll try and show some of it when we get them loaded.

Once we got on 40, things picked up. We even went through Kit Carson, Colorado! When we finally hit Oakley, we were rewarded with the bigger than lifesize Charlie Norton bronze of Buffalo Bill and the Buffalo....

Full disclosure: I didn't take this picture. I found it on the Internet. We didn't stop.. we were more interested than normally in finding a gas station. But it was quite an impressive piece. Apparently, Mr. Cody was born 20 miles from here.

Once we got enough fuel to move forward, we stopped at the Castle Rock RV Park in Quinter. A pleasant, honor system park, which, if you're not observant, would appear to be closed for business. But we read the sign, and had the whole place to ourselves. Except for the numerous cottontails and ground squirrels that drove the dogs crazy all night.

Today, we drove another 200 miles to Abilene. (See why we wouldn't make it to Lexington?). As I sit here, we're enjoying free WiFi and cable TV at the Covered Wagon Campground. Not a bad deal at all for twenty bucks. Tomorrow, before we leave, we'll head on out to the National Greyhound Association headquarters to pick up a squawker, and maybe some new muzzles for NOTRA and LGRA racing, and we'll see what other interesting stuff they have for sale. Last week, on the way to Colorado, we stopped at the Greyhound Hall of Fame. We've been there several times in the past, but this is the first time we took Buffy & Fanny in to see Grandpa:

(there'll be an image here eventually... having trouble uploading it)

Eventually, we'll end up at the SLASH LGRA racemeet at Purina Farms in Missouri. More later.. I still want to put up a couple of images from the II.

Time again to catch up

Not in this post, however... Margaret didn't let me get near the computer today, (she's trying to earn us some money!), so all the thoughts I had planned on putting down have blown away in the gusting Kansas wind.

So much has gone on since the last posting... the quiet death of California AB2110, a couple of NOTRA race meets that Rally did well in, the recently completed ASFA II that Rally did very well in, all the travel to get from the Deerhound Specialty to the race meets in Indiana and Illinos, and the long haul from there to Falcon, CO and the II.. Whew! It's been an exhausting couple of weeks. I do want to get in a review of this II... hopefully in a couple of days. But, at this time, I can at least congratulate my friends, Teri and Jack on their IG, "Miller" winning the whole enchilada. And here he is:

More thoughts on the II and other stuff when it's not so freakin' late.

Life Imitating Art

We spent last week in Michigan's "Little Bavaria".. also known as Frankenmuth, a big-time tourist trap; known variously as the home of Bronner's, "The World's Largest Christmas Store", and Zehnder's Restaurant and the Bavarian Inn- two parts of the same family, vying for "Famous Chicken Dinners" supremacy.

The purpose of this self-imposed hell was not to be touristas, but to photograph the performance events at the Scottish Deerhound Club of America's Centennial National Specialty... (actually, according to the catalog, the first national specialty was onlyh in 1965, but the club's been around since 1906). I also wanted to make another trip to the Frankenmuth Brewery.. an excellent microbrewery and pub, overlooking the Cass River.

But, I digress... I was shooting the ASFA lure coursing trial when this altercation broke out (precipitated by a misunderstanding in the previous corner)


When I looked at the image.. it reminded me of something. Something very much like this:



Not exactly like this, but I couldn't find an image on the web to match what I was thinking of.. at any rate, picture fighting Chinese dragons. It was brief, but loud, and intense. Cooler heads prevaled and both dogs were dismissed to sit in the corner and think about their transgression.

If you like Scottish Deerhounds (and who wouldn't?), there are lots more images of them (behaving themselves for the most part) on our website, and if you want to know who won the various events, you can see them here

I'll leave you with my favorite shot of the whole week, and it doesn't even show a Scottish Deerhound doing anything... other than getting groomed prior to the big Parade of Champions on Saturday. I just like the way my new Nikon SB600 flash lit up the piper perfectly.

Therapy Dogs

"Therapy dogs" carry infectious diseases. They're brought into some hospitals to put patients in a better mood, but a study says 80 percent of the dogs have infections that could spread to humans, including salmonella and drug-resistant E. coli."

So goes the opening paragraph in today's Human Nature column by William Saletan at slate.com. Read the rest here, including links to past Human Nature columns about dogs- including how tasty they are.

More Great Journalism

Yet another positive piece on live coursing. The backlash against the wacko's may be in full swing. Thanks again to Steve Bodio's Querencia blog via friend Margory in California, keeping the faith.

Ultimate Cellular Service

This has been driving me crazy. Can anyone tell me why Jack Bauer's cell phone never needs a battery charge, and never goes out of range? Even when he's 2 miles under the earth's surface? How many any time minutes do you suppose he has?

The Dog Press Fights Back!

This article was just posted to a number of dog lists. Imagine... balanced reporting on a subject like live coursing! KGO in San Francisco should be so ethical. Now, if the author, M. J. Nelson would have given me the photo credit I'd be a hell of a lot happier with the article.

...And then there's the thousand dollar mint julep.

Ready to sit on the edge of your seat tomorrow to watch the Kentucky Derby? Then read this article, then ask yourself why. A different take on the race, to make you think. But I suppose we'll watch anyway.

More of Margaret's Pictures.. as promised.

These were all taken at the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge.. on a day while I was off hunting with Fanny about 30 miles away.

Self Portrait 

The Biggest Penis

We were enroute from Crown Point to St Louis, and decided to stop for the evening at one of our favorite stops... Prairie Pines Campground in Rantoul, IL; a very nice city-owned campground. Nice amenities, including huge, private shower rooms. Rantoul also has a pretty good Mexican restaurant- Sol Azteca. That wasn't what it was called last year, but the change in ownership had no effect on the Camarones a la Diabla. As hot and tasty as they were the last time.

Rantoul is also the home of a friend; a successful Urbana retailer... shoes and orthotics. He's had a '65 Shelby Cobra for a couple of years, which he really enjoys. But when I called to invite him to dinner at Sol Azteca, he had news. Big news. The Cobra is on the block. He's purchased something more... um, more. He said he should cruise by the campground in it. I asked what... the new Shelby GT500 Mustang? No, he said, more than that. I said not a GT!?!? Yup.

So here is the ultimate phallic symbol. 550 supercharged, intercooled horsepower; a top speed somewhere north of 200mph (although our friend will admit to only 145... so far). The engine is a work of art. The interior, positively cocoonish. The body... well, see for yourself. All the cues from the legendary GT40 that smoked the Ferraris at LeMans in the '60s are there. It's just 4 inches taller; right about even with my hips at 44 inches.

We spent a good 45 minutes, looking over the beast, and taking these pictures (and believe me, this is a small sample). A local guy stopped and asked permission "to drool". He kept congratulating our friend, and shaking his hand... like, did he just plunk down 160 large on transportation, or did he win the Power Ball lottery?

Anyway... we were too hungry to take a ride last night (!!!???), but we're on the next time we pass through the area, and call ahead.... yeah; steaks on the grille and 100mph+ joy rides on the back roads. Does life get any better? Oh, probably, but what's wrong with the occasional indulgence? 

John Lennon Would Love It!

While not as poignant, or serious as My Strange Nation, "I'm The Decider" is certainly a hilarious parody. But where can one get off calling Bush the "egghead". I thought eggheads were brainy.

Death Wish?

Is this the dumbest bird in the history of the natural world? Sure, birds fly into windows all the time, you're saying to yourself. But have a listen...

We were in the mud up to our rims at the Boone County fairgrounds, following the BCOSW lure coursing trial over the weekend. We decided to let the ground dry, and see if we could get out on our own without an expensive road service call. So, we spent a couple of nights there.

Around daybreak yesterday, I was awakened by a rapping on the bedroom window. The shades were down, but occasionally I could see a shadow corresponding with the rapping, pulled open the shade, and saw this young robin... not accidently, but purposely attacking the window, which is, not coincidentally, mirrored on the outside. So what he was doing was endlessly attacking his own reflection... which he must have assumed was a rival that had to be driven off at all costs. We began to think he was going to drop dead from exhaustion, but that didn't happen. With only occasional forays out for worms, he kept this up until we left the fairgrounds around 1PM! Now that's what I call a really slow learning curve! And if that's the case, what does that say for Gabriel on the inside? He was there for all those hours as well...

Updates, Updates, Updates

California AB2110

This odious piece of legislation has passed out of committee. I'm not sure when it will come before the full assembly, but people in California are advised to not give up now. It squeaked out on a 4-3 vote, with the bill's sponsor "sitting in" to fill a vacancy and break the tie on her own bill. Interesting.

Also interesting is a reported last minute amendment that will narrow the bill's scope, possibly banning only "competitive" open field coursing. Details are too sketchy now, but if this is true it should be considered a major victory, and probably more than the dumb asses who brought this all on themselves deserve. More here when details are known.


Shot On Site Schedule..

Getting back to the mundane... here's the latest on where we're going to be over the next several weeks..

• April 9 - GLIWA, Racine WI, ASFA trial. Irish Wolfhounds only
• April 15-16 BCOSW, Belvedere IL. ASFA
• April 22-23 WCLCC, Crown Point IN. ASFA
• April 25-29 Irish Wolfhound Club of America National Specialty. ASFA, LGRA, etc.
• May 8-13 Scottish Deerhound Club of America Nat. Specialty. ASFA, LGRA, etc.
• May 20-21 CCRR, Other Breed NOTRA, Carthage, IN
• May 27-28 Unknown
• June 3-4 ASFA International Invitational, Falcon CO
• June 23-25 "Ridgeback Rodeo" somewhere in Pennsylvania..

That's the news for now. See you out and about.

I'm Never Going Hunting Again

This news column by Eric Sharp, the Detroit Free Press outdoors writer, in today's issue, has helped me see the light!

EKOJASTI -- The state Natural Resources Commission voted today, April 1, to impose $1 surcharges on hunting and fishing licenses to help an animal rights group develop nonlethal methods of reducing the state deer herd.

At a special meeting in this Upper Peninsula village, the NRC also voted to ban antlered deer hunting in the eastern UP and create a spears-only zone in Ann Arbor. The ban on antlered hunting was approved in an attempt to increase buck numbers. The spears-only zone was created to learn if the most primitive hunting method can reduce urban deer populations without upsetting vegetarians.

Read the whole thing here.

I can now see clearly that if an entire state, like Michigan, which has a rich heritage of hunting, can make the kind of sacrifices outlined in this article, then I can make my own small sacrifice... So, on this First Day of April, in the year 2006, I make this vow: That I will never again release my hounds on a living animal. I will join P*TA, and the H*US, and will deliver to them the names and contact information of every person I know, (and those I don't, and those I will make up), who hunt with their hounds. I will turn over all of my hunt photos to ABC, CNN, and the above organizations, to be used for the greater purpose of ending worldwide hunting, including the hunt for Osama. I will work for the passage of AB2110 to ban coursing in California, because some coursers in that state have already shown they have the intelligence of a box of jelly donuts- minus the jelly- and shouldn't be allowed out of their houses unattended. That is my solemn vow. You will all thank me some day.

Margaret Knows Her Way Around A Camera, Too.

Lately, this space has tried to be political punditry, film and book criticism, and satirical slapstick... among other things. We've lost track of the fact that we're primarily about photography! We've seen a lot of my stuff here, and for more of that there's always the website

But Margaret's been stretching her photographic legs lately, too, so we'll be posting some of her interesting work here. Much of her stuff is shot from the righthand seat of a moving vehicle,(She shot the "Impeach Bush" yard sign for the previous post). So here's some more from that perspective: These were taken on the mountain south of Jellico, TN on I-75. We were going north and seeing our first snow in nearly 48 months! That would account for the extreme concentration on the part of the driver... I really like the use of negative space in the above shot.. it gives it a feeling of true desolation. (Which is how it felt at the time!)
Will post some of Margaret's good abstract nature work in the future. Watch this space.

Home Sweet Home

After spending the last 7 months in Red (NC, MO, SD, NE, OK, TX, GA, FL, TN, OH) and purple (NM) states, it's good to be back in a good old Blue state.. in this case, in our home town, Ann Arbor. These signs are pervasive here... conservatively, no pun intended, in about every 5th yard in the neighborhoods we drove through today. While the sentiment is noble and just, the reality is that it ain't gonna happen... terminal stupidity is not a "high crime and misdemeanor", and since the alleged president is not having an affair with an intern or page, it's not likely to get the attention of the congress. The people have an alternative, however, as writer Kevin Phillips explains here. There may be hope for our "strange nation" yet.

Incest and Vomit and Bestiality Oh My!!

I love Netflix.com. Since many theatre chains refused to book
The Aristocrats, I was only able to see it courtesy of our Netflix subscription. Without going into details that would gross out even the least squeamish of our readers, it's a documentary, produced by Penn Gillette (of Penn & Teller) and Paul Provenza (shown below demonstrating Drew Carey's punchline gesture). It's the deconstruction of a 100 year old Vaudevillian joke, that comedians still tell to each other, (but rarely to the public- when you see the film you'll know why. Film critic David Edelstein says, "If The Aristocrats doesn't shock you, there's something deeply wrong with you. You need to be locked up—now." And that from a positive review!). It features 100 comedians from Robin Williams to Gilbert Gottfried, and from Rita Rudner to Whoopie Goldberg... all putting their own spin on this classic underground joke. My favorite? The special South Park animation sequence; and in a segment you'll have to see*, the joke is told by a mime! There are moments where you'll be asking yourself, "what th....??", and others where you'll be, like Rob Schneider at the Friar's roast of Hugh Hefner, on the floor in gut-busting pain. I guarantee it. I'll let Margaret have the last word.. "It was completely disgusting, but I still enjoyed it". What more do you need? Check it out.

*He was a mime after all...

Totally Irrelevant Celebration

Not that it means a damn thing in the grand scheme of things but Duke is OUT. And I couldn't be happier.

Sirs, Lords, Ladies, and all that British Stuff

As I noted in a previous post, Sir Mark Prescott was not knighted. He came about his title, as a Georgian Anglophile who knows him put it, "the old fashioned way, he inherited it". Now this is something that I didn't know, and based on comments on one of the dog lists I'm on, others didn't know about either. As luck would have it, Slate.com has an article today that explains how it works:

"Human nature being what it is, people have always wanted baubles and prefixes, and human nature being what it is, these things have often been for sale. After all, the baronetcy, a quaint hereditary knighthood, was devised by King James I in the early 17th century specifically to raise cash. With the advent of electoral politics, it was parties that turned to selling honors—and prime ministers who were beset by importunate wannabes. After Lord Salisbury became prime minister for the first time in 1885, he said that dealing with those aspiring lords or sirs had "been a revelation to me of the baser side of human nature."

That was then. This is now... the article, entitled So You Want to be a Lord: How to buy your way into the British aristocracy, by Geoffrey Wheatcroft (Sir?), covers the latest British scandals involving buying and selling of titles. So now you know the whole story!

War Declared on your Dog!

You love your dog. You work your dog. Or both. The ARistas are out to take your dog away from you, one baby step at a time. None are more insidious than the H$U$. (I will not post the correct characters here, because there's no way I will tolerate a Google ad for these creeps on my page). If you hunt... with or without a dog, you owe it to yourself to read this recent post in Matt Mullenix's blog.

While I'm on the subject of blogs... there are a few more that I've discovered recently- none more informative or entertaining than this one from New Mexico falconer and houndman, Steve Bodio. His take on the current coursing controversy is enlightening, but you should check out the archives for much, much more. Warning: This site will also make you hungry from time to time. Maybe even hungry enough to try jackrabbit!

Speaking of the coursing controversy in California, there is still time, (although it's running out) to do your part to help Stop the California coursing ban. Note the quote from my Rightwing friend, Bob Jahn (shown here doing his best King of the Hill's Dale Gribble impression). I tend to reject just about all of Bob's politics, but he's spot on here.


The last blog, is my pitiful attempt to counter the gloom and doom. It has nothing to do with dogs, or coursing, or politics. It's Where the Hell is Matt? The journal of full-time globe-trott... er, globe-dancer from Seattle, Matt (Last name not given). He's the guy you may have seen on Ellen, or Good Morning America, or other programs. Wherever in the world he is, he gets someone to film him doing his goofy whiteguy dance. The locations are incredible. Check out the film here. Not only is the blog generally hilarious, but it is educational as well. Well worth a look.

A Different Kind of Writer's Block

In the last few weeks I've had so many things I wanted to post here that I ended up not posting anything. It's also a problem when we spend so much time without a high speed connection. Anyway- I've got some time tonight, and I'm at the Flying J, and the 1's and 0's are flying back and forth between the laptop and the roof of the travel plaza, so... here goes:

Susan Werner

Those of us who despair of our nation's downward spiral to the Right can at least take comfort in the fact that there's someone out there who can voice our despair in a poetic way. And a beautiful voice it is. Give a listen to Susan Werner's My Strange Nation. It gives us hope that the America we learned about in grade school can be returned to US. It's been getting a lot of play on Sirius Disorder. And it's a free download at the website.


That Greyhound "Thingy"

Well, it went off without a hitch. Unless a 1000 yard drag lure that wouldn't work, and a serious leg injury to one dog, and numerous toe injuries to a bunch of others can be considered "hitches". Other than that, I guess it can be considered a rousing success. In fact, just from the numbers alone: 40 entries! it can be considered a rousing success. Organizers are unclear, but they think this is the first time in ASFA history that the Open Stake in greyhounds has had to be split.

We're happy with our little part in the event. That would be Rally's 3rd place finish in the Open Flight A, not the income derived from photographing the event- that would currently stand as the 3rd worst weekend event for us since we took our show permanently on the road. At least it was enough to get gas to get to the next event in Ohio, and there will still be some internet sales, so it might eventually be a financial success as well. One can hope.

One of the delightful surprises of the weekend was meeting, and hearing speak at the banquet, Sir Mark Prescott- the man who rescued the Waterloo Cup from rust and disuse, and wrote an excellent history of the event. He discussed some of the history at the banquet, and gave a cautionary tale on the recent brouhaha about open field coursing in California. Based on what he told us, it's apples and oranges, and he's got nothing of use for us. For instance, it's unlikely that any open field event in the United States will ever draw 100,000 spectators. That was the crowd for a Waterloo Cup in the 1920's!

Meeting a live Knight was interesting, but it's getting old hat. A few years ago in Lexington, KY I met, and had dinner with Sir Terrence Clarke, another notable canine authority. Wha..? What's that? Oh. I didn't know that.. it turns out that "Sir" Mark is not a Knight. He merely inherited the title. I wonder if that's also true of Sir Terrence. Probably. And Sirhan Sirhan as well, I suppose.

Anyway, back to the action. Without going into all the ins and outs, when all was said and done, a whole bunch of hardware, champagne, and fancy big rosettes were handed to my good friends, Mike and Karen Lorenzo, whose Dresda ended up winning the whole shebang. A much anticipated matchup between Dresda (codename: Tweezer; just check that bite!) and Jerry Burrus's Gilda didn't happen as Gilda, AKA: the blackest dog I've ever seen, dislocated a couple of toes in winning the Open Flight A.













And then there was this:
When I first saw it, it was just after a course had been stopped due to equipment malfunction, so I naturally assumed it was the caution flag. No racing to the finish line, and pit lane is closed! I don't know. Margaret finally 'splained it to me.






The Next Events

Leaving the South. I'm insisting it's way too early to head north, but north we will go. This coming weekend, March 25-26, we'll be at Twin Tower Park outside of Fairborn, OH. Then we'll try and get the awning fixed in northern Indiana, known as RV Central. (It was damaged in Georgia back before Christmas.) From there, we'll go to Belvedere, IL for the BCOSW trial. That will be the 1st and 2nd of April. Not sure where next. I'll let you know when we know. There's an Irish Wolfhound specialty there, somewhere. What fun! A mystery!

Today's Observation

Had dinner tonight, as we often do when travelling, at the Flying J truck stop restaurant. Pretty fair fare. Something I've noticed many times, all across the country at these places: If there's a more unfit class of people in America than truck drivers, I'd like to know who they are. These guys (and the occasional girls) are truly a mess. I can't believe any of them live past 50. I'll try and get some pictures one of these days and post them.

Hanging out in Tallahassee

Is this Florida? Or Southern Georgia? One thing for sure is that aside from being the place where the biggest ripoff in Presidential politics happened, it's where they love their Florida State Seminoles.

We decided to hang around for a couple of days, waiting for some mail that should have arrived Friday.

Meanwhile, there was the Appalachee Coursing Club trials this past weekend. While the course plans weren't exactly what I was used to from past trials here, I still got some good action. And, as usual, the lunches were first rate.

The Best in Event was won by the greyhound, Donald, owned by Glen and Pam Davis. A relative lure coursing rookie (this might have been his third or fourth trial), he's an accomplished runner. Here, he's shown in his Sunday preliminary run.








The event trophy, is the Robert Nix Memorial Trophy, which was donated by Les Pekarski a couple of years ago. While I only met Robert Nix once, back in 1996, I owe much of what Shot On Site Photography has become to him. Robert is generally considered the father of lure coursing photography. Long before the advent of digital cameras, Robert was shooting events with old, reliable manual Nikons and Leicas, and even though he eschewed photo labs, he always had images to show the very next day. Les recounted yesterday some evenings when he shared a hotel room with Nix where, the bathroom would be unavailble for most of the night because it was turned into a slide processing lab. Here is Les presenting the Robert Nix trophy to Glen Davis.






The other noteworthy happening of the weekend also involved, peripherally, Les, and his wonder whippet Gala. Gala became the first ASFA Veteran LCM3! On top of her previous 20 LCMs, that's an amazing career. Les has computed it out, and Gala (and her running mate, Spy) have each run more than a million yards. You go girl. Here's Gala (muzzle), and Spy running on Saturday.





We're still waiting to see where we're going next weekend. But while we're here, we're going to check out the area. If we find something fun, we'll let you know.

Back To Basics..

For a while now, I've lost sight of the original purpose of this blog, which was to keep the sighthound fancy aware of our travel and shooting plans. So, here goes..

This weekend we'll be in Tallahassee for the ACC ASFA lure trial. This is one of my favorite fields to shoot. The course plans always present the hounds a couple of times on each course, so I always get really good action stuff here.

The following weekend, March 11-12, we're either going to be off, enjoying Fort Yargo State Park in Winder, Georgia, or we'll be at the GOGLC trial in Brooksville, FL- this will depend on whether someone from this trial will be at Tallahassee and I can find out if we can go there in the motor home.



March 18 & 19 we will be back at Old Mill Farm in Cartersville, GA for what is being called an "ASFA National Greyhound Specialty", and which I have been referring to in my emails as "that greyhound thingy". This is a good field to run, and we may run Rally if her injured toenail is healed enough, but it's always been problematic for getting good sight angles for action. Back at the year end trials there, I did get an opportunity to shoot from a unique perspective. But Les Pekarski isn't going to bring out the 62 foot lift truck every weekend.

March 25-26 will bring us back up North for the first time since September, and it's a little too early in the season for my tastes, but we'll be at OKIGO's AKC trials in Fairborn, OH, which is another good field for unique action perspectives.

Our future plans also include the Scottish Deerhound Club of America's 100th National Specialty in Frankenmuth, MI in May, and a NOTRA weekend in Carthage, IN, also in May, and we'll be in Falcon, CO for ASFA's International Invitational in June, and this may preclude us from getting to Lexington for the Saluki Specialty.. it will require a long run, using lots of gas! Will depend on how well we do at the II.

Our 4th of July plans are up in the air right now.. we'll either be at the MGA ASFA trial in Metamora, MI or we may go back to Cartersville, as it's some sort of anniversary event, like the 20th or 25th or something.

That's it for now, we'll fill in the blanks as we get closer to April and May events.

Olympic headlines you missed..

BODE MILLER MISSES GATE IN SLALOM, VEERS OFFCOURSE, SHOT IN THIGH AT BIATHLON VENUE.
BAL DROPS TO .280 DURING HOSPITAL CONFINEMENT
Says Bode: "It's awesome, man... I got to party and get shot on an Olympic level!"

* * * * *

JAPAN WINS LADIES' FIGURE SKATING GOLD
JAP TAKES SILVER

SIGN, SIGN, EVERYWHERE A SIGN

"There's sign everywhere"

"Lots of fresh sign here!"

"Look at all the sign!"

What the hell is that all about? Left Behind cultists predicting the EndTimes? Preparing for the Rapture? What are they talking about, these wandering voices in the desert? Nothing so monumental as that. They're talking about the body waste from Lepus Californicus. Jackrabbit crap. But to hear the hunters as they slowly walk the desert hoping to flush a hare, you'd think they were discussing the Communion Wafer Body of Christ

!

The CW is, that when you see jackrabbit sign, you will soon see a jackrabbit! What it really means is: Absolutely Nothing.


In my short hunting career, if I've learned anything, it's that these critters shit way out of proportion to their numbers. One jackrabbit can litter acres of desert, I swear it's true. If it weren't true then we actually would jump a jackrabbit when we see fresh sign. It seldom happens. Oh, that it were true.

But like any creature of habit, we'll be out there again next Winter, talking about sign. And I'll be as guilty as the next guy.

Changing the name...

Huh. No posts since August. Well don't say I never post here.... note the new name of the blog!

Meanwhile, it's the middle of the Winter in Texas, and it's shorts and shirtsleeves weather. Better hustle on that additional study of global warming, Mr Shrub.

More later...