Fashion Dogs

Ah, Fashion Dogs.  AKA Purse Puppies.  They seem to have gone out of style these days.  In the modern era they do seem a bit gauche.  But from an etymological perspective they are pretty interesting.

The list of things I call my dog Hank is long.  I favor alliterative versions, such as "Whining Whelp".  Whelp is a marvelous word from way back, it comes from Old Saxon and goes back who knows how long.  When looking this one up I read that the more common term "puppy" supplanted it starting in the late 15th Century.  It's origins are about as clear as the family tree of Ol' Hank, but it is felt to have come from the French word poupee, meaning doll or toy.  Whether the Mademoiselles had actual little dogs they held as accessories is unclear, but in any event they treated them like small toys.  

The same word also gives us puppet, and for similar reasons.  In fact early on the two words were used interchangeably.

Having grandkids rather into bugs I wondered if pupa, an immature form of moth or butterfly, was related.  Hmm, well sort of.  It's a modern-ish creation, invented by Linneaus who in the late 1700's basically invented scientific classification of animals.  He leaned into the Latin pretty hard, and there the word  pupa, means girl, doll or puppet.  So obviously this was also the source of the later French word.

The concept of a young person also turns up in pupil, as in a student.  Oddly, pupil as in a part of your eye supposedly originated in the observation that you could see a small reflection of a person on the eye surface of the beholder!  I'd call that a bit of a reach but evidently there is a similar concept in Greek and in early English.  Reese Witherspoon sort of spoiled the effect by wearing big sunglasses most of the time.

The dog in these movies was named Bruiser.  He passed away a few years back at the venerable age of 18.  His obit is HERE.  

Killer Shrews and The Family Business

I enjoy really bad movies.  Oh, not modern ones that I'd have to pay to see, but the classics.  And among them is a gem called The Killer Shrews.  It is from 1959, pretty much the pinnacle of cheesy, black and white sci-fi schlock.  

It has several special charms.  Oh, not the plot.  It's the usual Science Goes Wrong stuff, specifically biological research that makes teeny little voracious shrews grow to giant size while their appetites grow accordingly.  The titular shrews, delightfully, were played by dogs with fake fangs, tails and mangy hides added!

Here you can see the deadly creatures as they gnaw futilely at the oil drums the humans are using to stage an escape attempt.  I bet they had all sorts of dog treats in these to attract their attention.  "Who's a Good Boy?"  Yes, Good Dogs and Good Sports.

I also like this film for a small but remarkable fact I just learned recently.  Now, in most such movies you had stock characters.  Here we see the Girl Scientist, the Dweeby Beta Male love interest of same, and the Macho Can Do guy who comes to save the day.  Oh, and in the middle of the scene we have The Science Guy.  His real life name?  Baruch Lumet.  Sound just a tad familiar?  Hmmmmm?

Well, Baruch did not have much of a film career.  In fact prior to The Killer Shrews he had but a single credit.  Twenty years earlier he had a small role in a film called "One Third of a Nation".  Also appearing in it was his son, Sidney.

Sidney Lumet.  One of the most acclaimed directors in history, he made such classics as 12 Angry Men, Fail Safe, Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon, and Network.  Somehow despite being often nominated for an Oscar, he only won once and late in his career and as an Honorary Oscar.  

As for Lumet Senior, it seems as if Baruch was not all that interested in being in front of the camera.  He took on a few small parts, especially in the 1960's, but was primarily an acting coach and casting director.  I hope most of his students - Jayne Mansfield was one - went on to greater accomplishments than appearing with collies dressed up as voracious predators!

Robot Hank

In a build season with much frustration here's a welcome bit of whimsy.  The team named the robot Hank.  I don't know why, but it is coincidentally also the name of my son's frisky dog.  Puppy Hank is a most estimable canine who gives me many happy moments.  He adores me and I feel the same about him.  Robot Hank on the other hand has caused me a great deal of worry, and once banged me on the shin when he was feeling electronically out of sorts.

Here is Hank in his final form.

It was always going to be a challenging build season.  Pandemic, earliest possible competition schedule, and a team of kids who had little experience.  Indeed, this robot was primarily built by 8th and 9th graders.  And to their credit, the darn thing does work.  At least it was working on Tuesday night! 

Unless you are a very high level team the build process starts with high ambitions, but the compromises begin soon after.  It takes a certain amount of time to do the complicated stuff, and a bit of time past that to make systems robust and reliable.  When you fall behind in the first couple of weeks you can never make that time up.

It has been hard.  Some of my posts showing gnarled, twisted trees covered with ice are a bit of poetic expression.  

Well a great deal has been learned, and having a young team does mean the experience pool deepens quickly.  We have things to address logistically before we can start talking about next year.  But first.....tonight the robot goes off to Duluth the night ahead of the main team.  I'm riding a school bus with a couple dozen robot kids Thursday morning.

With what few functional neurons remain to me after that experience I'll try to post a bit about how Robot Hank does in competition.

Puppy Hank Again

Oddly the term "good boy" is applicable even to dogs who sometimes are less than perfectly behaved.  This is "Puppy Hank" an associate member of our extended family.  I go let him out when his owner is at work.

Hank likes to do dog things.  Jump, chew, sniff, roll in bad stuff, the usual  He is a great favorite of my grand daughter, always has been.  He characteristically has one ear that usually flops down and one that stands up.  This is within even my limited cartooning skills so Hank shows up often in our art projects. 

I guess it is a fair question to ask.....do dogs think?  Well I'd say yes.  Hankster has such an intent, alert demeanor that it is impossible to imagine him as just a dull lump.  But what does he think about?

Rolling in bad stuff.  Eating dirt.  Shredding toys.  I suppose if you chose to simply be uninvolved with the problems of the world those are fairly reasonable priorities in life.

Hank is named after Hank the Cowdog, titular character in a favorite book series when our lads were young.  Perhaps a little un PC in these delicate times, but as the books are written from a dog's eye perspective some allowances might be made.

Puppy Hank

Dog sitting for a while.  I'd forgotten how much work an enthusiastic pup can be.  Actually I doubt any of our previous dogs were this high energy.  To my recollection none ever woke me up in the morning by jumping up on the bed and licking my face.

Puppy Hank, July 2021.

To be clear, I don't need a dog.  On some level - weighing the obligations of pet ownership - I don't even want a dog.  But......just look at that face!

Rat, Snake and Fox

We've always enjoyed having our up north cabin, but once the grandkids came along it got way more fun.  They love running around inside and out - weather depending - and all manner of small person traditions have evolved.  Macaroni and cheese with sliced up hot dogs as the sole approved sleep over supper are but one example.

Somewhere along the line the Rat and Snake story began.  

Grandson is much interested in nature stuff.  Fish, bugs, reptiles, mammals, you name it.  And he's very realistic about predators and prey.  So at some point the stuffed animal collection became a little drama troupe in which Snake, and later Fox, were constantly on the prowl trying to catch and eat our hapless protagonist, Rat.

Eventually Rat started asking me for advice on how to evade the predators.  Rat appropriately speaks in a "Mr. Bill" voice.

"Hey, Human.  Could you use your gigantic primate brain to help me figure out how to fool Snake?"

"Why sure, Rat.  Let's see.  You're warm blooded, right?  So let's put you in the freezer for a while.  Then when Snake touches you he'll get cold and sleepy and you can run away"

(dubiously) "Well......OK."

Of course this and many other variations on disguises, hiding places, use of improvised tools never, ever works out.  Afterwards a disheveled, but oddly still alive Rat, comes back and says: "You give the worst advice ever!"  Not that it stops him from coming back later and getting even more impractical counsel.  It has a Coyote and Roadrunner vibe to it, although having real voices to work with instead of "Meep! Meep!" makes it way more fun.  For me and for my grandson.  For Rat, oh not so much.

Between visits the trio usually just sit await for our return.  But sometimes the game goes on in our absence.  Here I posited that Rat wearing hunting garb would frighten off Snake and Fox.  Hmmm...I think the predators are on to us, Rat".

Alexander Pope's Essay on Dog

(which to be fair he never actually wrote, but should have).

Although I went to a fairly good high school, and in an era when scholarship was perhaps held in higher esteem than of late; I don't recall studying Alexander Pope at all.  This seems odd, he was a thoughtful poet and a very quotable one.  In fact he trails only Shakespeare with regard to entries in many compilations of quotes.

I think the omission was intentional.

Pope was handicapped in life both by a spinal condition that gave him a very hunched over stature, and by being a member of the Roman Catholic faith, then out of favor in England.  Perhaps these combined to put a bit of extra bite in his writings.

No, that understates it.  Alexander Pope may well have been the most vicious writer in the history of the English language.  He frequently unloaded on the many enemies he made in both personal and professional matters.  Consider this gem: 

"Wit pass’d thro’ thee no longer is the same,
As meat digested takes a diff’rent name;"

Yes, you can see why exposing high school kids to that level of sarcasm would not go well at all.

So I only discovered Pope as an adult, and it has been a treat.  My favorite work of his is The Essay on Man.  In it Pope ponders man's place in the universe, musing at length about where Man sits between God and Angels above, and dumb beasts below.

Pope was, of course, a dog lover.  Because he had many enemies he had to, for his own protection, go about with a brace of loaded pistols and a gigantic Great Dane named Bounce.  As Pope in his crippled state was only about 4'8'', the dog loomed protectively over him.

Among Pope's many quotable lines is this one:

"Histories are more full of examples of the fidelity of dogs than of friends."

I was musing on some of Pope's themes the other day when I stopped by to visit with my pal Bear who lives across the alley.  If Pope had ever gotten around to writing "The Essay on Dog" I think Bear would be an exemplary narrator.  But instead lets just settle for some minor reworking of a few lines of the Essay on Man.  

Great poetry?  No.  Doggerel?  Why, yes...

"Hope Springs Eternal in the Canine Breast.

"Man eats the pork chop, but throws away the rest."

-------------

"Oh, blindness to the future! kindly giv'n, 

That each may fill the circle marked by Heav'n, 

Who sees with equal eye, as God of all,

A Hero perish, or a sparrow fall,

Atoms of system into ruin hurled, 

And now a bubble burst, and now a SQUIRREL!!!!"

The Dog Has Plans

Dog will dig holes.

Premise:  The Humans have More Treats.

Hypothesis:  The Treats are in the sky, probably being carried by the small silver birds that fly way up there.

Test of Hypothesis:  Barking and Howling at the birds has not caused them to drop any treats.

Conclusion:  Ineffective so far but continue barking and howling just in case.

Second hypothesis: The Treats are buried in the ground.

Test of Hypothesis:  Dig holes.  Low grade Treats are occasionally found.

Conclusion:  More holes should be dug.

What Dog Wants

Dog wants Truck to Go.

Go where?  Anyplace other than the Vet.
Go why?  Does not understand the question.
Go when?  Now please.  To the Dog it is always Now.  Go Truck.  Now please.   Go Now.

Family Gathering - Spring 2015

We got together for Easter.  As we are a collection with varying beliefs it was not a church going affair this year.  But a fine time.

Shoes by the door.  We are now 2.5 generations.

Not counting these guys who seem to get along well.  Chino had on a dapper sweater vest.  No bunny ears but his natural ones come close.

Happy Spring.

Cats Playing Baseball

(Note:  Opening Day for the Minnesota Twins.  Time for another anthropomorphic baseball post that will, I fear, be a fair approximation of the challenges faced by manager (for now) Ron Gardenhire)

------------------------

I can imagine Dogs Playing Baseball.  Yes, yes, there is that lack of opposible thumbs to get past, but at least dogs are able to stand on their hind legs for short periods of time and can be trained to "stay" and "go" on the command of their Master and presumably of their First Base Coach.

Cats on the other hand, well, the phrase "like trying to herd cats" pretty much sums up the prospects of a group of them ever cooperating in a joint effort.

But for the cat lovers of the world, I present a snippet from an 1880s patent medicine almanac.  This is a two part panel entitled Our National Game, which I split into halves to fit better:

Lots of interesting little details.  Note the third baseman cheating by holding the runner by the tail.  And the shortstop with a bottle in hand.  And the policecat.  I also rather wonder about the figure just to the right of the batter.  Not an umpire, perhaps a sports writer given the pen, paper and glasses.  The title of this image "A Fe-line Hit" would in modern parlance be more like  "A Fe-line Drive".

And chaos ensues.....

Hmmm.  I can't figure out the two objects in the lower right corner.  Just barely seen in the first panel.  Lamps?  End tables?  A bit of historical detail lost due to lack of context.

Christmas with Mr. Bill and the Squirrel

Good times at Christmas this year.  Our human and canine family was all in attendance.

Here Bruce the Dog plays with his plush chew toy:

It's pretty realistic.  It even has a little squeeze activated voice thing that, appropriately, says OHHH, NOOOOOOOO!!!!

An interesting red eye photo that makes Bruce look like a Demon Dog.

As for myself, well I really can't claim "Nice" status this year but I must at least be on the "Provisional" list because I got something rather cool.

My boys hunt, and happened to bag a nice black squirrel.  Knowing me so well they decided I would like it stuffed and on display.

Everyone should have a taxidermy squirrel.  Sadly, not everyone does.

Opening Day

My beloved Minnesota Twins are opening the 2012 season today.  It was a terrible season last year, and it may not be realistic to hope for a World Series championship this year either. 

But heck, I can always escape reality....here's a nifty bit of fantasy.

This marvelous work captures two of my interests....baseball and dogs behaving like people.  It is entitled "One to tie and two to win". 

Does the style look just a little familiar?  Well, it should, as it is a lesser known work of a genius named Cassius Marcellus Coolidge.  For an in depth exploration of the man whose "Dogs Playing Poker" paintings grace many a basement rec room, I recommend:

Dogs Playing Poker!

And back in the real world....Play Ball!

The Big Demotion-when Dogs become Dogs.

When I took up the life of a free-lancer a few years back the results were almost all happy ones.  One of the few down sides to it is that frequent absences make it impractical to own a dog.  I love dogs.  Perhaps in my writing it shows just a little.

When people remember their best dog ever it is about an even split between some beloved childhood pet and the first dog you have together as a young couple.  The first case is obvious, the second requires just a little explanation.

The first dog you have as a young couple is your "practice child".  We talk to these dogs a lot.  We are interested in their growing up.  We scoop up droppings.  These are all excellent parent training exercises and make for a pet that is fully integrated into the nuclear family.

And then the first child turns up.  Overnight your dog becomes just a dog.  They realize it on some level.  You see them peering up mournfully from the floor, the new sounds, sights and-oh my goodness-the smells all a mystery beyond the canine ken.  Dogs being practical sorts just sigh, inwardly or audibly and await the eventual barrage of tossed foodstuffs from the high chair.

One of my neighborhood dog pals is facing this transition.  Buck up Haley!

One slight advantage dogs have in the competition for attention...they are never embarrassed by anything:

Sorry, it was the only photo of Haley in full costume that turned out!

Closer to home our eldest son and his fiance now have a dog.  Meet Bruce.

Peering out the window at Haley, who never gave him the time of day.

Bruce should keep the kids busy for a few more years.

Spouse and I of course had our "practice child" dog.  Great mutt she was.  She was a constant companion to my wife during residency and many nights on call.  After her passing we had a local artist do a painting of Bezoar the Wonder Dog.  It hung in my office for years.

Now the world can be a funny place.  When this painting was commissioned we had a baby, our number three son.  And the artist had a daughter about the same age.  In small town America it is hardly surprising that they eventually met, a bit more surprising that they have become very good friends.

But not ready for dog ownership any time soon.

Dogs of France

My natural affinity for dogs is increased when I travel, especially to places where I am not fluent in the language.  Like the local canines, I am able to understand most of what is going on around me, but can't comment.  And I have to endure shopping.

I feel your pain, mon frer...

Street markets seem particularly hard on dogs.  They would really rather be somewhere else...

But other aspects of canine life in France seem OK.  They are for instance welcomed in cafes.  One place even had specific arrangements for them:

Not sure why this is in English.  Dogs don't read it any better than French.

And the well dressed and coiffed French do not forget their pets:

It is hard to be sure, but the dog seems to have his mouth open.  The notes indicate singing.  And the bubbles?





My archeology instincts never quite go dormant, so I am always scanning the ground in front of me.  This can be a good thing, as there are too few green areas in urban France for canine pit stops.  Step carefully.  Unlike here in the States I never saw anyone carrying a scooper/bag type set up.  Centuries of medieval sanitation leave some sort of cultural mark I guess.  But I did see some minimal evidence that they were trying....

Ayez le bon reflexe!

Halloween Dogs

As a commentator on the rise and fall of cultures I must take note of an unusual reality.....according to my blog stats there is significantly more interest in dogs dressed in silly costumes than there is in pithy commentary on archeology and modern culture!

Oh, all right then.  Just for you, what with Halloween being around the corner and all...

I would love to give attribution, but photos of this sort have been kicking around the internet long enough that they are the digital equivalent of archaeological artifacts of unclear provenance.

Cerberus, Ankle Nipper of the Underworld.  I bet I could motorize the auxiliary heads.....

Pugs are just too easy

I think we can assume that the owner started out with full cans of beer...

This last one is my all time favorite Halloween Dog shot.  The snarl on the Vampire Dog and the passive stance of the Under Dog are either the result of serendipity or of many takes. 

I shall, alas, be laboring in the ER on Halloween night.  So some of the blood and gore I will be seeing may not wash off effortlessly.  But I have instructed our candy distributors to keep camera handy, and to snap a shot of any dressed up dogs that happen by.  Usually we get a few among the more conventional bipedal visitors.

Back to Archeology on Monday

Wizard of Oz Dogs

What?  Again with the dogs?

I can't be serious all the time now can I?

A good dog series needs a unifying theme.  And the Wizard of Oz serves well.  It has that sort of campy feel to it.  In the original film the costumes were all a bit cheesy and garish, just the sort of thing to slap onto Fido.

We can dispense with the all too obvious Toto and Wicked Witch.  And frankly the titular Wizard is very uninteresting visually.

Here is a rather good Scarecrow:

We love dogs for so many reasons, but as a general rule they are clever rather than intelligent.  This pooch has that wide eyed "looking for a brain" air about him.

And here is his side kick:

From the jovial bon vivant look to this bulldog you can be assured that he has already been issued a heart.

How about Dorothy?



Hey, isn't that the Scarecrow in drag?

The basket is a nice touch.

As you can tell, dogs are among my most beloved critters.  Their only serious rival might be.....monkeys.

So for total kitch bliss here are a pair of dogs dressed up as Flying Monkeys!



Oh Yeah.  That's what I'm talkin' about

In case it is not clear, I am not the creator of these images, merely a sort of curator for the collection.  To give due credit:

Dorothy and Scarecrow are from dogcostumedeals
Tin Man is from  costumedogs

And the most exquisite Flying Monkeydogs are from BostonTerrier

Haute Dogs (and Anti-Prom)

It is the season of Prom.  For the benefit of blog visitors from elsewhere -I am thinking of my small but loyal Croatian following- I should explain that this is an annual rite of passage for kids in their last couple of high school years.  It involves formal clothing, flowers, a fancy dinner out followed by a dance that nobody seems to enjoy very much.  A particularly attractive couple get to be Prom King and Queen.  It runs a bit of money for even sensible people to attend, and for the spendthrifts it can stimulate the local economy considerably.

But who is talking about sensible people here.  Or even people.

Dogs in formal wear are an interesting inversion of humans in same.  I stand ever ready to have my opinions scoffed at and derided, but as I see it young men generally look silly in formal wear, young women not so much.

I figure it is because tuxedos are generally associated with a degree of social stature, a certain gravitas.  They are designed to camoflage the middle and minimize the expanding waist line that  often goes along with success.  17 year old kids tend to have the tux hang loose on them, their skinny necks with prominent adam’s apples doing little to enhance the effect.   Some dogs have a similar issue.

Too scrawny to make this work

Of course there are a few tuxedos that really should not see the light of day or the dark of prom night.  Unless you have the supreme confidence to wear some over the top burgundy wide lapel 70’s get up you should just stick with classic black and white.  I think dogs are color blind so this poor pooch did not suffer too much.

Looks like a Hugh Hefner bathrobe to me

The classic tux in a guy wearing it with panache?  Here it is.

Regards young ladies in formal wear let me make clear that my opinions are simply aesthetic.  There is an age at which a more intense interest in these matters is appropriate but I am about 3.1 multiples of that age.

Dogs just have a difficult time managing a good looking formal dress.  As in all things they try so hard.  Maybe it is that unfortunate chest hair thing.   Maybe, well, if you have a tail just about any outfit actually will make your butt look big. 

Here is a well accessorized young pup ready to “put on the dog”.

hmm, that pic of her boyfriend looks photoshopped...

And a couple of pretty good outfits.

rather squinty eyed..was this post prom, next morning look?

I note a slight resemblence to Carrie, from Sex in the City

Sadly, our household is at present dogless.  But we still have a Prom age kid nominally under our supervision.  But this year no Prom for him.  Along with some cohorts he is organizing an Anti-Prom.  Details are sketchy so far but a riverside venue is anticipated, the music will be live banjo, and the main activity of the night is to be cat fishing.

It sounds like at least as much fun as the official Prom, and much cheaper.  And less bother for us parental types.  Just make sure there is a rain plan, issue the usual prohibitions on alcohol and untimely progeny and I guess our work is done.

Outfits for a cat fishing Anti-Prom?  Maybe..

Posting from Hadrians Wall, six time zones away and on the edge of the Civilized World; best wishes to "Huck" and "Becky" the King and Queen of Anti-Prom

Protest Dogs

I like me some politics once in a while, but find it a difficult thing to manage in an on line format.  It is too easy to annoy people when most of the subtle courtesies of a dialog get lost, and so often people take offense where none was intended.

But still, we have had quite the political circus here in Wisconsin in recent months.  And for reasons of-oh, heck, its just how my mind works-I decided to look at protest dogs.

Dogs you say?  Do they even have political views?  They can certainly express a sense of outrage, just try and take a bone away from one sometime.  And in a society where regrettably less than half of humanoids bother to vote I figure we need to give some credit to all who turn out.

Besides, dogs are naturals at some protest activities.  Need to occupy a state capital?  Just a large scale version of sleeping on the good sofa.  And for eye pleasing visuals that grab attention, well, they work for me.

Several of these images are from the incomparable Althouse blog.   Protest Dogs

I should mention that you can purchase Dog Protest outfits commercially.  Cafe Press, an outfit that can seemingly print up small numbers of very specialized things has quite a line of them.  Here is a Dog Shirt in defense of marriage.

'Cause ya know, dogs are all about monogamous relationships...

But a lot of the better quality Dog Protest outfits have appeared recently on the streets of Madison.  Madison has become the epicenter of outrage over recent austerity measures enacted by Governor Walker and the legislature.  Some recent examples:

Scooter being a nick name for Scott Walker. 

Is this a play on paper cuts?  Dogs seem well protected from that menace...

Only a so-so sign but extra points for Corgi Cute.  Now, don't start lookin' at that tree...

 Of course, Protest Dogs come in all ideological types.  Here is a Tea Party Dog.

A most excellent pun.  Being treaded on is a real issue for micro-dogs.

Protest Dogs are not strictly an American phenomena either. There is a famous dog who shows up an any Greek protest of note.  He must actually be able to tolerate tear gas.  Here is more on him with some action photos and a link to his Facebook page!    Riot Dog

This rambunctious canine has a cult following, and has even inspired art work.
  

But I have my doubts.  At the end of the day dogs enjoy a comfy rug to sleep on and would be appalled if societal chaos caused any breakdown in the regular delivery of Purina Dog Chow.