Y' Want It?

You can have it. Go on. Take it. You know you want it. C'mon take it. Just try.

I believe I've finally succeeded in capturing Sandia's personality. ;^)

Rally's, too.

Monkey In the Middle.

More Fun at the South's Expense.

I don't make this stuff up. While watching some football this weekend, on CBS's Chattanooga affiliate, I noticed something strange. Everytime a promo for the Victoria's Secret annual Christmas program came on, the volume would go down, rising up again after the spot. It would also happen when the football announcers would talk about it. This happened on Saturday, during the college games, and on Sunday during the NFL broadcasts. And who's job is it to sit and monitor these spots, because it was definitely someone manually turning a volume control dial? (Because they didn't always get the sound all the way off).

Is it me, or is this just plain weird, since the air dates and time are flashed on the screen during the promos? So who's being protected here? Or maybe it just says something about literacy in the South.. they can't hear it, and they certainly can't read it.

Wilderness.

Yes, we're lost in the wilderness again. This time, about 6 miles east of I75 near Calhoun, Ga. We're camped out for the week at friends' new home and lure coursing venue: "GANG Park". As coursing fields go, this one's got some character, ie: no flat, level parts anywhere. Cool.For economic reasons, we decided to stay for the week following the trial we shot last weekend, even though we're not shooting this weekend's trial. When the bus ain't moving, we ain't spending money! We also had access to the field and some pretty big dog runs all week...

...something we don't see at a normal campground. Drawbacks include the fact that neither our phones, nor our aircard are picking up a signal. So I'm writing this from the Java Junction Cafe in Calhoun. Pretty good place.

UPDATE: I got rushed out of the coffee shop on Saturday before I could finish this with a fun little anecdote. The name GANG Park comes from the lure coursing club, "Greyhound Association of North Georgia". We know that, but apparently the nearby residents didn't. When the homeowner put up a fancy "GANG Park" sign, the town offices were flooded by calls wondering how they could let "gangs" have their own place!? It's all been straightened out now, and since there was no permit for the sign, it has now been removed.

Eye Candy

Just ignore the message.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today, with reports of wild turkey attacks, and wild turkey overpopulation, it's hard to believe that at one time they were nearly extinct in America.

Patrick gives us a comprehensive background, as usual, on how at least one big government program worked. Maybe too well.

Enjoy your Thanksgiving turkey.

Football.

John Runyan.
Steve Hutchinson.
Charles Woodson.
Ian Gold.
Steve Breaston.
Amani Toomer.
Braylon Edwards.
Anthony Thomas.
Brian Griese.
Jim Backus.
Drew Henson

These are just off the top of my head... Oh yeah, and this guy...


...and there are dozens more. All stars, or at least valuable role players in the National Football League. What's their connection? Obvious to most sports fans: they all played at Michigan. And were coached by Lloyd Carr. Hmmm. Maybe he was better than the "experts" thought. His 13 year record would certainly lead you to believe it.

Lloyd retired this past Monday after 13 years as head coach. He's been getting a lot of praise this week, much of it from the same fan sites, and bloggers who screamed for his head for the last 4 or 5 years. I'm not going to add to the craziness.. You can find all the good stuff at just about any sports site you wish to Google.. ESPN.com, Sporting News, Freep.com, etc. But I did want to point out a new blog I've added to the blogroll column at the right. MGoBlog is maybe one of the best written blogs- of any genre- that I've read. I've listed it below Bodio's and TerrierMan's blog because, well, because it's just that good. Even if you're not a Michigan fan, you will enjoy Brian Cook's posts. In fact mgoblog scooped the mainstream media on news of Lloyd Carr's impending retirement- almost a week before it happened.

Meanwhile, in the real world of Division II football, where national champions are determined the old fashioned way, with a tournament, my Grand Valley Lakers will be hosting North Dakota this weekend in a second round game. It's difficult to remember back that far, but North Dakota was the last school to hand the Lakers a loss. That was back in 2004! If you haven't been paying attention that's 38 straight without a loss, and includes the past two DII championships. I'm hoping for 39, 40, and 41... and 3... over the next couple of weeks.

Go Lakers!

We're Global! ...and a mystery

This is pretty cool. Here are the last 100 visitors to this site, by location. Every continent is represented! The mystery is that nearly all of the non-US visits came from Google image searches that returned hits to this post from last year. Now what would be on the internet that would cause people from all over the world to search for the Beach Boy's Pet Sounds album cover? Did I miss something?

I Just Didn't Get This Town.

photo from the co-pilot seat by Margaret.

Envy!

We're still over about 2 months away from our Winter break in New Mexico. We've got a bunch of dogs that aren't getting any younger, and one who has yet to see his first jackrabbit. And here we sit on the wrong side of the country.

Meanwhile, many of our friends have already gotten a couple of hunts under their belts in Wyoming and New Mexico. Blog posts about hunting are showing up here, and here.

And perhaps, the bit that increases my anticipation of getting into the desert the most, was the news from the TCC mixed hunt the weekend before last: The hunt was won by Sandia's sire, Tuxedo; 2nd was his "Aunt" Camille; 3rd was his mother, Gogal. A real "family affair".

So, when you see us over the next several weeks, make sure you buy lots and lots of pictures so we can enjoy our New Mexico trip... at $3.50/gallon. =8^(

Schedule Update.

Later this morning we'll head to our favorite Georgia state park, which means we won't have a particularly strong signal- if we have one at all- so I wanted to post the changes in our schedule.

Next weekend, Nov 17-18, we will be at the greyhound training track in Jacksonville, FL for two days of all-breed NOTRA (oval racing). I've wanted to get to this track since they started running NOTRA events there last year. It's a real track, with a rail lure and sand surface.

This means we will miss the Michigan - Ohio State football game. Given the events of the past weekend, maybe it's no big deal.

The rest of the 2007 schedule:

Nov 23-25 MAWA (ASFA trials) Calhoun, GA
Dec 1-2 OPEN DATE. Call us!
Dec 8-9 AHCA (AKC trials) Lampasas, TX (New field!)
Dec 15-16 ASA/GBSC (AKC/ASFA) Waller, TX
Dec 22-23 OPEN.. Happy Holidays!!
Dec 29-30 AHCGH (ASFA) Richmond, TX

We'll list a couple more Texas trials at the beginning of the year, and then it's off to New Mexico for a month (at least) to show Sandia his first jackrabbits. We will be so ready for that!

New Album

It's been a while since I added anything to the Google albums pages, but with so many pictures of Rally and Sandia running through the water, and chasing each other, I just had to share...
click below..

Watersports at Windyglen

I wonder how many of the people who were at the ASFA National Greyhound Specialty this weekend knew there was a small pond in the far northeast corner of Don and Sally's 40 acres. Well, "Team Beige" found it this morning, and boy did they have fun! This has got to be good for Sandia's development, and it doesn't hurt Rally's rehab, either.

Other than the pond, water was scarce this weekend. In fact, today marks a whole week since we've seen any clouds! I can't remember that ever... anywhere. It's eerie. Temps in the 60's, light breezes, a full Hunter's Moon at night. Those who didn't come missed the best weather anyone could recall for a running event. I'll post more when we're more settled than we are at the Sherman, TX Sam's Club parking lot...

You! Yeah You! You Know Who You Are!

Patrick's got you nailed with this recent post. Should be seeing some of you in Oklahoma this weekend, but...

...and the Universe is, like, a Really, Really, Really, Big Place!

Gosh dang it!! I love this article! ;^) !!

Puppy Fix?

After yesterday's bile, I thought it was time for more cute puppy stuff. Brand new today in Santa Anna, Texas. Of course, this was in the afternoon. When he was really ramming around at a high rate of speed this morning.... I didn't have the camera with me.

Hijacked!

As it turns out, we will not be going to the Bluegrass Coursing Club's November trials, as noted on our schedule for the past couple months. That leaves an open date between the ASFA Region 7 regional and the MAWA trial in Calhoun, GA. If anyone has suggestions, let us know, (although this makes Margaret very happy as it allows extra time with the grandkids!)

I'm a bit peeved, myself. Many trial organizers, when they think about a photographer at all, (which is seldom), make the convenient choice, rather than consider what the exhibitors would prefer. There's a reason Shot On Site Photography has been selected to shoot 11 of the last 12 ASFA International Invitationals, (and have been selected already for '08), the inaugural ASFA National Greyhound specialty and this year's event as well, 9 of the last 10 Saluki Specialties, and... well I could go on, but I think the point's been made.

We're easy to reach: dan@shotonsite.us , or margaret@shotonsite.us ...and the phone number is on our website. In 2008, we plan on being more proactive in setting up our schedule. If you're an exhibitor, and you want us at your trial, tell your trial chairperson or secretary. We want to make up a schedule that makes sense driving a 7 mpg motor home around the country.

UPDATE:
OK, I don't mind missing the BGCC trial now.. I just checked, and it's the weekend of the UM-OSU football game. And I know from experience, there's no TV reception at the trial site... (or for many miles around there, for that matter.) Thanks providence!

Dashboard Bobblehead

These last images are for people who've indicated they needed a puppy fix. Sandia was 5 months old yesterday.

Ottoman Empire

...think about it.

Arkansas 2

Before

After...

Now maybe w'll go to work on SC... and the whole Pacific Northwest.

images: top Dan, bottom, Margaret.

Arkansas

Our route to Hutto, TX takes us, this time, through Arkansas. As luck would have it, we've stopped for the night at the WalMart in a place called Hope. Hmmmm... a place called Hope? Why, that would make a good title for a campaign video!

Be that as it may, our overnight stop in Arkansas allows us to do something to the outside of the Express that we've needed to do for some time. I'll try and post "before" and "after" pictures tomorrow when we get to our weekend digs.

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.

Recall...

....Needs a little work.

Yes.. he was being called here. He's developing an independent streak.

Shakey Jake.

Every small town... and Ann Arbor was once a small town... has unique, special characters. From the early 70's and beyond, that character was Shakey Jake Wood, street person extraordinaire.

Word reached us today that Jake died on Sunday. He was 82. Maybe.

I have a picture I took of Jake in 1974, at the Ann Arbor Blues and Jazz Festival- In Exile. (It was held in Windsor, Ontario Canada that year). How Jake got over the border, and back, is still a mystery to me. Anyway, the picture shows him hawking the Ann Arbor Sun- the counterculture paper of the day. If I can find the original slide when we attack our storage locker Thursday, I'll scan it and put it up here.

HT to Margaret's son, Tony. RTWT- especially the comments!

"I Brake For Jake".

Incriminating Evidence.

Why yes... we do have a new puppy. How did you know?

Frankly, I'm happy that the boy is reading at such an advanced level. I wish he would do a better job turning the pages.

An Economic Decision

This morning we made a tough decision to forego our originally scheduled event- a LGRA meet with an added ASFA Fun Trial- at Oberlin, OH. Instead we'll be very nearby our Jackson, MI campground, for an AKC trial about 30 miles away.

This wasn't an easy decision. We really hate to make a change- especially a last minute change- once we've posted an event on the blog and at the website. However, we learned that the entry at the race meet and trial would be quite small, while the AKC trial had a good number of pre-entries, including many Junior Courser runs each day. Add to that the fact we can leave the motor home parked where it is, and take the car to the trial, thus putting off buying gas for it until next Friday, and also that I have an early morning VA appointment in Ann Arbor on Monday.. it just made economic sense.

We apologize to the LARC folks, for leaving them in the lurch, and we will return to Oberlin next year. Raisin River Rhodesian Ridgeback Club?? We'll see you tomorrow in Manchester, (where I intend to bug somebody about this club name... as far as I know, the body of water is officially known as the River Raisin. Not the other way around.)

Heinous Crime!

It's not like I enjoy making fun of Georgians... they just seem to bring it on themselves.

The Top Ten Valuable Things I Learned from SPAM.

Number 10: "Out of more than 50 drugstores CanadianPharmacy proved to be the best"

Number 9: "you may be eligible for a $1000 Target Shopping Spree'"

Number 8: "thousands of cars are seized by different Government agencies."

Number 7: "You could find a beautiful home that has been seized by the Government"

Number 6: "The second hand moves JUST like the real ones"

Number 5: "People judge your dick size by your shoes size."

Number 4: "Doesn't matter what is the problem - we have pills to cure everything"

Number 3: "A giant progressive jackpot waits to be grabbed!"

Number 2: "ladies like em big"

...and the NUMBER 1 Valuable Thing I Learned from SPAM:

"the average American has 6-10 undigested meals resting in the colon!"

And you all thought it was just useless clutter.... (SPAM, that is, not the meals resting in your colon.)

Caption?

Why we never miss the Wind Chasers Lure Coursing Club September trial...

Weekend's Best Crash.

Uh Oh...



...and they finished the course.

The Others

With all the fuss over the new puppy, you'd think we didn't have any other dogs. Well... most of you know better.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Test dog extraordinaire! Best described a few years ago by Sandra Moore as "the best fixed broke dawg I ever saw!". And still the prettiest dog on the planet.

UPDATE 1: I'm looking at this, and it reminds me of something. What is it? Wait! That's it!!

All Relative.

Since I posted pictures of Sandia's parents last week.. (or was it the week before?), I thought maybe readers might like to go back another generation to see the grandparents..

Above, is Grandmother "Zanda", and below, Grandfather "Xicot", (the tall, dark, and handsome one in the group- pronounced, "Chico".) Click on the link to see some background information, and a list of European titles... most of which I don't understand. Probably show, racing, and lure coursing, but I'm not sure.
Images courtesy Anke Schute, in the Netherlands. Thanks!

EDIT 1: And, just to close a circle here... When I wrote the story of my Galgo "quest" back in August, I mentioned exchanging emails, back in the late 90's, with the "Little Lobitos" folks in Germany about their pending first litter. Well... it happens that in that first litter was a cute little girl... by the name of Zanda!

Small world. (At least in Europe it is...)

As before.. to view Zanda's puppy picture, click on the link, click on "Puppies", click on the "A" litter, roll your mouse over all the cute puppies until "Abizanda" shows up, then click on that picture. For some reason we can't link directly to a specific page on the website; only the home page.

Nature Finds Us.

We generally don't have to go looking. Case in point, yesterday; we're packing up after the weekend's trials in Hobart, IN. We've had the puppy's travel crate outside all weekend. It makes a nice table/workbench/catch-all. Under all the stuff I find this guy...


He/she had plenty to eat this weekend; the mosquitos were quite horrendous. If I had to guess, I'd call this a Grey Tree Frog. Any amphibian biologists out there want to help out, feel free to jump in. It's about 3 inches long, got some serious grippy toes, and was a dull grey with vibrant black and yellow areas under the arms and legs.

Look closely, and you can see the self-portrait of the photographer in the eye!

If You Have to Ask... You Must be Dick Cheney.

The Question? Are Liberals Smarter?

William Saletan at Slate.Com reports on a study that shows that "Liberals' brains 'are more responsive to informational complexity".

Where's the news there? I knew that. Didn't you know that?

First Rabbit!

But he seems to have a kind of Abu Ghraib attitude about them. Should we be worried?

Who's Yer Daddy?!

You know it's true... nobody works harder to get you a unique, spectacular image of your hounds..

So, where will we be working hard in the upcoming weeks? Why, it's time for a schedule update:

Sept 8-9 WCLCC Hobart, IN ASFA trials (and annual Pig Roast!)

Sept 15-16 LARC Oberlin, OH LGRA racemeet, and ASFA Fun Trial

Sept 22-23 NCC/ASFA Region 6 Invitational, Ravenna, OH

Sept 26-30 LCLC Romulus, NY ASFA & AKC Events

That's it for September! Remember, if you just want pictures on a disk, you're cousin Vinnie can handle the job; if you want a Full Time Professional Photographer, offering a comprehensive photographic product list, including: Prints, CD's, CD Slide Shows, Posters, Photo T-Shirts, Mouse Pads, Tiles, Checkbook Covers and Wallets, Cutting Boards, and... and... the list goes on- you get the idea. Call us!

Today's Puppy Pic To Die For.

People wanted more pictures... we're glad to oblige.

Coincidence?

One of today's visitors...