More Than Bumper Stickers!

Who can keep up with Margaret? Not me! We now have "I'd Rather Be Coursing" apparel at our Cafe Press store . Right now there's just the Galgo Español. Other breeds to come. Besides, who doesn't like the Galgo?? Not me.

"I Don't Know Art.. But I Know What I Like"

..and this isn't it. And actually, I do know art. Mojo Nixon on Sirius Satellite Radio's Outlaw Country loved the story, though.

Obama-nation

It's much better than it sounds!

From the "Low Concept" Department at Slate.com

It's A Hit!

Early indications are that you like the bumper stickers. In the Netherlands, especially! Love you, Anke! In addition to those, and the US, we've even sold to Australia.

Biggest seller so far is the Galgo Espanol. Did I mention we love you, Anke? :-) Followed by Basenji, and Borzoi. So... where's the Whippet folks? Greyhounds? Longdogs? Salukis?

See them all here. They'll be available on T-Shirts soon, as well, and Margaret will be coming up with new designs, too. Check it often.

Still More Birding Images.

Circus Cyaneus. What a great name for our old friend the Northern Harrier, (formerly Marsh Hawk.) We've gotten lots and lots of images of Harriers in New Mexico because they're probably the most numerous of the birds of prey here. Big birds anyway. They're always around every field we take the dogs to. We kind of caught this one by surprise when we were out east of the Floridas looking at property. I saw her- females are brown, and larger than the mostly blue/grey males- in the distance, moving our way, so I stopped the car and waited. The top image was at the instant she noticed us and veered away.

This image was taken a second later, and really shows the aerodynamics of the body. The Peterson Guide describes Harriers as "slim hawks with slim wings, long tails.... flight low, languid, gliding..." I enjoy watching them, as they're always hunting, watching the ground for voles, which is their main prey. You can always tell the Harrier by the large white rump patch, clearly visible above.

As I mentioned in a previous post, this particular trip to New Mexico has been particularly rich in viewing birds of prey, both large and small. Just from memory:

• Bald Eagle
• Golden Eagle
• Northern Harrier
• Ferruginous Hawk
• Red Tailed Hawk
• Zone Tailed Hawk... (maybe; briefly over the car, and I remember it was dark, with a black and white tail)
• Cooper's Hawk and Sharpshinned Hawk
• Peregrine Falcon, and
• Kestrel.

..and probably more, but it's hard, sometimes, to get a positive ID on a bird sitting on a yucca when you're driving by on the interstate at 75mph ;-)

Someday, I'll write about how I got so into amateur birding.

No, They Mean the Pecans.

The MLBPA was getting nervous. (That will require a little bit of thought) ;-)

Subliminal Bleg.

Lotta stuff gotta happen, before this can happen. Jackrabbits everywhere. Buy stuff!

Good Veterinarians, Good Eats.

Rally, I mean Money Pit, is recovering down in El Paso at Crossroads Animal Clinic. We took her in this afternoon, and met Dr. Jim Koschmann, who's the closest thing we've met to Jim Radcliffe, the wonder vet, back in the East. He explained the procedure he would use to re-attach the achilles tendon to the heel bone. We like being treated like we're not stupid.

Dr. Koschmann called later this evening to tell us that the surgery was complete and Rally was resting, and that she'd "done quite a job in there". There was more damage than just the tendon, but he got it all together and stitched it up, although to hear him describe the procedure it sounded more like he was making a rug on a loom! And she'll have an external fixator holding everything steady for the next 6 - 8 weeks. Robodog.


The best part about the timing of this little errand to El Paso was that we were able to stop in La Mesa, NM and have lunch at a place that had been highly recommended by local friends- HT Val Koeppler- and also by the Sterns, of Road Food fame. Chope's Bar and Cafe is a true "hole-in-the-wall" gem. Chiles rule there, and their rellenos are their specialty. Very lightly breaded, and deepfried, in a combination plate with enchiladas, beans, and the best taco I think I've ever had. Magnifique! And, as always in this part of the country... lots of green chiles. Rumor has it that former Dallas Cowboys head coach, Tom Landry, used to fly to El Paso so he could eat at Chope's. The cheerleaders, too. They swear it's true. It's on my keepers list.

British Invasion

In the last couple of hours we've had blog visitors from England, Scotland, and Ireland. They arrived from a message board on this very cool British website. Not being a member, I don't have access to the message that linked to our blog, but they seemed to spend time looking at the Desert Hare Classic posts and picture.

Interesting website, covering all things "hunting" in the UK.. of particular interest: Lurchers, and Lamping. Return the favor, and check it out.

UPDATE: The Hunting Life website has been added to our link list.

Buteo Regalis

As the last vehicle.. (us).. left the field on Sunday, we were buzzed by this magnificent Ferruginous Hawk. It was as if it were saying, "It's about time you people left... I'm hungry!".

Birding on this trip, especially as regards birds of prey, has been most impressive. Today, for instance, we saw a Peregrine Falcon. Too far away for a picture, unfortunately.

NOTE: Yes, I know I need to clean the filter ;-)

After the Classic.

Sandia gets rewarded for walking 10 miles in the gallery over two days...

...and grows a goatee. :-)

Honey... Where's the Piggy Bank?

We're gonna be rich!

Dutch Salmon's Desert Hare Classic Results.

We have a winner. If you don't remember where to get the details, re-read the previous post. Here's a little dig at the folks that went to the so-called Grand Course... Saturday: 11 jackrabbits run; done by 12:30. Sunday: 9 jackrabbits run; done by Noon. And nobody here is going to tell you where we were. Forget it. Nope.

Dutch Salmon's "Pack Hunt", 2008 Results.

A tie. Details in a future Performance Sighthound Journal.

OK.. a little teaser: The weather was perfect, and everyone got their money's worth.

The Doors Are Open. A Crack.

It will be a while before we have a "Grand Opening", but the Shot On Site store is now open at Cafe Press. The storefront needs some work, but the page you all will be interested in is the linked page.

We're starting with a bumper sticker,

an old favorite in fact, but updated. Eventually there will be so much more. Apparel, ceramics, totes, notecards, etc, etc, etc.

All images on the work are by Dan, and all the designs spring from Margaret's fertile imagination.

Currently we have the bumper stickers in Salukis, Longdogs, Galgos, Greyhounds, Borzois, Whippets, Ridgebacks, and Basenjis, with more to come. Each is available in several color schemes as well. We're looking forward to seeing them on a lot of cars in the coming months' trials. Enjoy!! And Pass it on!!!

(The copyright watermark will not be on the product you buy).

UPDATE: We've added the storefront link to the linklist on the sidebar.

Fun House.

While I babysat five dogs and a cat, Margaret was having fun in the Big Apple with her grown kids. They did all the touristy stuff, including attending this very weird off-Broadway show:

Looks like fun, in a kind of disorienting way. Looks like more fun to be in the cast!

Even DeMille Had to Start Somewhere.

OK, Dan gets a little out of control with Windows Movie Maker. Don't do what you do when you go out to the movies and rush out as soon as the movie is over. Sit there while the credits roll!

We may have to invest in a real video camera... this is too much fun.

Get ready... the dogs move out in a hurry, but don't miss Randir's "cameo"! And watch how smart Sandia (pink blanket) runs; doesn't use it all up on the runup, but starts to move up through the pack as the course gets longer. Smart dog. In this case, when the hare came back toward our postition, he had a huge lead and we were able to call the dogs off. We'll do more of this.

Coming Soon.

Margaret's getting fairly competent shooting movies with the little Fuji camera. We'll post some live coursing videos as soon as she gets them on a stick so I can load them on this computer. She also shot some ah... interesting... footage at a Broadway show when she was in New York. I think it's worth sharing.

On a commercial note: we're about to launch a storefront at Cafe Press. Margaret's been very busy this week working on some designs that you are going to want. Seriously. Stay tuned, and I'll post a sample and details before the weekend.

Money Pit.

That's the new name for the greyhound formally known as Rally.

After checking with friends in the Las Cruces, El Paso, and Albuquerque area for advice about vets, we decided to just take her to the local (and only) vet in Deming. Since she's shown a propensity for not staying sound for more than 6 months at a time, we were just going to get the most basic (read: cheap) repair, and retire her from running competitions.

Unfortunately, the local guy admitted he had little experience in repairing this type of injury... which by the way, was that the achilles tendon had completely separated from the calcaneaous (heel) bone. He set up a referral for us to a vet in El Paso.... one whose name we already knew from our previous search, and came with a glowing, albeit expensive, reference.

Tuesday, we'll take Ral Money Pit to Crossroads Animal Clinic, where Dr. Koschmann will do his magic, and she will either come out the following day with a splint, or an external fixator. I'll post some before and after pictures at that time. Our wallets will be some $1200-$1500 lighter. Money Pit, indeed! At least this way she may be able to run in next year's Pack Hunt with Sandia!

Oh, that the local guy could have done it... the office call, exam, and referral were a whopping $31.00! And we walked in without an appointment.

Update: So I don't need to tell you, those Google ads around this site are more important than ever. Who wouldn't want to look at the Patriots' cheerleaders in bikinis.. huh? You know you would.

Lethal Weapon 4

I just wanted to post one more shot of this jackrabbit, since it was kind enough to give me lots of good close-ups this morning.. Look at those back feet; in fact look at the whole rear assembly. Like an athletic sighthound, that's the "engine" that makes this critter second only to the pronghorn in pure speed in North America. Add to that the agility to turn on a dime at that speed and you've got one formidable prey species.

Yeah... we got skunked again today. What of it?