Farley and The Dog Whisperer

I had meant to do a few more postings in the last week, but I've been slug-like lazy, and haven't done a whole lot of anything.

One thing I did do was watch various episodes of The Dog Whisperer, trying to get some tips to solve at least some of Farley's behavioral issues. For those of you not familiar with the program, Cesar Millan is a professional dog trainer specializing in fixing the behavior of problem dogs. A lot of what he does is common sense, but some of it seemingly borders on magic. For those of you not familiar with Farley, he's a ball of love, but judging by the way he drags me around the neighborhood, he'd make a good sled dog on the Iditarod. I had tried a few things - calming him down and making him sit before carrying on with the walk; turning the other way when he starts pulling; just stopping when he starts pulling, but nothing was working consistently. Last night I say Cesar give an over-exuberant dog a mild kick with the back of his foot when the dog tried to pass him. The dog immediately backed off and walked without pulling. I tried it on Farley last night, and Hallelujah!!! It worked!!! I did it again this morning, refreshing Farley's memory with a slight nudge of my heel on his chest. No more pulling!

Now... if I can only get him to stop leaping on people when they come to the door; stop chewing baseball hats, shoes, pillows and anything else within reach; lunging at other dogs and small mammals on the street; realize that "come" is not optional; and a few other issues too numerous to list here.

I wonder if Cesar plans on doing a Seattle show anytime soon.

Oh, and belated Happy Birthday to Farley. He had his first birthday on Boxing Day! To mark the occasion, he's stopped peeing like a puppy, lifting his leg most of the time. My baby's growing up!

Frosty the Traffic Cop

Traffic is getting better in Seattle. Not only is the snow melting, but the city has pulled out all stops in getting traffic moving efficiently. Here's Frosty in action at Stone Way and 45th.

Winter Wonderland Cont'd

The snow continues... Well actually the snow tapered off last night, but it's supposed to continue on and off today. On Wednesday, rain is forecast, with more snow later in the week. In the meantime the winter wonderland effect continues. Check out these shots from the Stonewater courtyard.

I did get my car out on the streets a couple of times yesterday. The main roads are passable (barely), but the side streets are treacherous. Yesterday after sledding, I joined Caroline and Alex in Green Lake for a couple of drinks before heading over to Pies and Pints for a meat pie and another beer. (I think Pies and Pints has a great business concept... a good selection of beer, and really tasty homemade pot pies.) Then we came back to Stonewater for a hot tub in the snow.



All was well until I tried to take Caroline and Alex back to Green Lake. When I brought them over here, I couldn't quite make the turn to get into my parking garage, and it was too slippery to back up the hill and take another run at it, so I just parked on the street. When we left, I got out of the parking spot alright but lost control in the slick middle of the street. I managed to get up against the curb in the deep snow on the other side of the street, quit pushing my luck, and called it quits for the night. Caroline and Alex walked back to Green Lake (at least that's where they were heading as they disappeared into the snowy mist), and the Audi is still parked on the street. I don't know if I'll be able to get it out of there or not. It must be serious stuff if an all-wheel drive Audi with an expert Canadian driver gets stranded in the wilds of Fremont.

We had lots of fun sledding and tobogganing in the alley. Here are Hal and me with Farley in the middle on Farley's first toboggan ride. At first he wasn't real wild about getting on, but once we got going he was like the typical dog with his face hanging out of the window of a car on the freeway. Since Farley likes to pull on a leash so much, I thought he might be a good sled dog and haul the toboggan back up the hill. No such luck! Even though he has lots of pulling power, he continued his tradition of not doing anything useful (kinda like his master).






Next, it was just me and Farley on the sled! Once again, he enjoyed himself; at least until I lost control and wiped out.












A good time was had by all.

A Winter Wonderland

It's hard to believe that there's been snow on the ground in Seattle for over a week now. I don't know if that's a record or not, but I've lived here eleven years now, and I don't recall anything nearly that long. Here's the view from my window this morning. The snow from the last photo is still there.













Farley and I went out for an early morning walk. The sheer joy of him romping in the snow, and the fact that there are essentially no cars on the road, prompted me to do something rather stupid. I let go of his leash. For the next half hour he taunted me mercilessly; coming close at times as I pleaded for him to come, and then disappearing around a corner making me wonder if I'd ever see him again. Then he'd pop up a half-block away to tease me. I finally managed to get him back when a passerby appeared in the alley. (And I thought I was the only guy foolish enough to be out in the snow before 6AM.) Farley, social animal that he is, couldn't resist going over to greet him. At my request, the stranger took Farley's leash and handed the culprit over.



Here's a shot of a normally open street a block away from my place. Sometime last night, the cabbie got caught sideways on the hill without hitting anything, and I guess decided not to push his luck. A prudent choice, I'd say.

I'm sure that as during at least one snow storm a few years ago, the Evanston alley will soon be filled with the howls of joy from the 40 and 50ish kids sliding down the hill on improvised sleds and toboggans. I may even get out my old skis and carve some turns in the Fremont Alps. If only I could harness Farley's energy to have him drag me back up the hill!

A Great Idea!!

A story from Clusterstock:

Brilliant: Credit Suisse To Pay Top Execs With Illiquid Mortgage Securities

We're shocked that nobody has suggested this before, but on its face this looks like a great idea... Credit Suisse announced today that bonuses for its top executives would be made in illiquid, mortgage-backed securities. Seeing as these guys are responsible for getting this stuff on the companies books, it makes sense to shove it back to them. And if the market gets liquid again, and the stuff goes up, that's going to be a huge windfall for execs:

Bloomberg: The bank will use leveraged loans and commercial mortgage- backed debt, some of the securities blamed for generating the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, to fund executive compensation packages, people familiar with the matter said. The new policy applies only to managing directors and directors, the two most senior ranks at the Zurich-based company, according to a memo sent to employees today.

A Seldom Seen Seattle Scene

We waited for snow all day yesterday, but it didn't come till last night. And come it did; complete with a rare event called thundersnow. That's a great new word I had never heard until it popped up this morning during a weather report on the radio. Apparently a couple of competing fronts collided over Seattle, causing thunder during the snowstorm. Hence, thundersnow. That's a great name for something; I'm just not sure what.

Here's the view from my window at about 7:30 this morning.










Here's the view down Evanston Ave. I took Farley for a walk not long ago, and like most other dogs, he went nuts. He was harder than usual to handle, and with his four-paw-drive, he had far superior traction to my two-foot version.

As far as I'm concerned, the only negative thing about the snow is that I'm expecting my new ski bindings to arrive by FedEx today. I don't know if FedEx is as dedicated as the no-rain-sleet-or-snow-will-stop-us types at the post office, but I hope they are. I've got new skis and boots and all I'm missing are the bindings. I've got an appointment to have everything put together tomorrow. I hope I can make it, because with all this new snow I can hardly wait to get out on the slopes. And I just know that $1000 worth of new ski equipment will make me a far better skier.






Now for a few political thoughts...

I'm really starting to wonder about Obama and his appointments. He appointed Tom Vilsack as his Agriculture Secretary. Vilsak is the ethanol-feedlot-and-subsidy-loving former governor of Iowa. Then there's Ken Salazar as the Interior Secretary. He's currently a senator from Colorado and has operated a ranch that's been in his family for generations. He's one of the new generation of moderate Democrats who are making life difficult for Republicans in the West. Neither of these guys have strong environmental records, but maybe it's like Nixon's trip to China in that it will take guys like these to clean up the messes of current agri-business practices and subsidies and management of federal lands.

Obama has also named Rick Warren as the pastor who will give the invocation at his inauguration. Rick Warren is the smiling face of the right-wing-whacko-religious fringe, but I think that beneath that smiling face lies a hatred of gays, lesbians, women's rights activists and other secular progressives that isn't much different than that of Falwell or Robertson.

Whatever Obama is up to is working. His poll numbers remain high in the vast middle of the American populace. The only people he's annoying are on the extreme right (who he'll never please), and those on the not-so-extreme left.

For my taste, Obama's leaning too far to the right, but he's a lot smarter than me. I hope he knows what he's doing, and I hope he's not just an exceptionally well-spoken and intelligent, but otherwise run-of-the-mill politician. I voted for change we can believe in.

Blagojevich and torture

The Bush administration must be smiling. Last week, the Senate Armed Services Committee report on detainee abuse was released, only to be buried by the media frenzy over a two-bit Chicago governor trying to sell Obama's senate seat.

After WWII, some of the Germans and Japanese charged with war crimes were tried, convicted, and executed for lesser offenses than the detainee torture and abuse at Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib. What went on there was plainly beyond anything sanctioned by the Geneva Conventions. And the crimes committed there pale in comparison to the hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians who died and the millions of Iraqis who fled Iraq because of Americans and their bombs.

It would give me great satisfaction to one day see Cheney, Rumsfeld, Gonzales, Addington, Yoo, Rove, and yes, W. himself on the dock for these crimes.

Baby it's cold outside

It's cold outside, but that didn't stop a bunch of us from taking out WaveGuide to tag along with the Argosy Christmas ships. Fortunately, the heater aboard WaveGuide works just fine. Going out with the Christmas ships is a good way of getting into the holiday spirit and a good excuse to drink some hot toddies and hang out with good friends. Here's a shot of me at the helm with my first mate Megan and our able seaman Hal.







As we returned to our slip last night, it was snowing a bit, but nothing was sticking. By the time this morning rolled around, Seattle was a winter wonderland. And contrary to the usual weather patterns, it stayed cold enough that the snow actually stuck around all day. The cold snap is supposed to continue for the next few days. At least the streets are clear and dry, so the city isn't paralyzed like it would be if the streets were icy.






I went and saw Milk tonight with Caroline. What a great movie, and what a fabulous performance by Sean Penn! Penn plays Harvey Milk, an activist in San Fransisco in the 70's who became the first openly gay person to hold major elective office in the US. He and the mayor of San Fransisco were assassinated in 1978 by a disgruntled city council member. (Though not part of the movie, the murderer used what became known as the "Twinky Defence" saying that he was unstable because of all the junk food he ate. He ended up serving only 5 years for the double murder.) This was the time of Anita Bryant's gay-bashing and the rise of the religious right. The themes sounded by the right haven't changed much over the years. They are still using the same arguments today against gay marriage that they were using 30 years ago when they were trying to pass laws to fire gay teachers. But it wasn't the theme of the movie that attracted me so much as the way the movie was put together. It had touches of documentary with lots of archival footage; it was a story of political passion; it was a love story of sorts; and it was all held together by a totally believable Sean Penn. A few years ago after seeing Mystic River, I correctly predicted that Penn would get an academy award for his performance. He deserves another one for Milk.

Provinces in Peril

Even if the US mainstream media buried the prorogue story, The Daily Show came through and confirmed my opinion that Jon Stewart provides all the news you really need.

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Provinces in Peril - Indecision Oh-Eh?

Barack Obama Interview
John McCain Interview

Sarah Palin Video
Funny Election Video

I may have been sucked in

I may have been sucked in by the video I posted earlier today. I hate it when that happens, but it's not the first time a viral video has fooled me. When I first saw it, I thought it might be a model plane, but I couldn't see any obvious editing. This site thinks it's phony, but they don't have anything to prove it other than there are no new reports or videos of the landing. If this was the real thing at an airshow, you'd think it'd be all over the news.

If nothing else, whoever did this did a great job of making it look like the real thing.

The Most Amazing Video Ever

Hat tip to Mike!

Prorogue cont'd

Well, Harper got his prorogue. The Canadian parliament is shut down until January 26th. What happens then is anybody's guess.

Prorogues???

I learned a new word a couple of days ago - prorogue. Prorogue is a rather arcane term used to describe the temporary suspension of Parliament. Putting it on hold, if you like. The Canadian Parliament is in crisis right now, and Harper's Conservative government has asked the Governor-General to prorogue Parliament. And I always thought Canadian politics were boring, and I always thought that Stephane Dion (the Liberal party leader) was one of the most colorless and boring politicians ever. Well, watch this.



You may recall that there were federal elections in Canada a couple of months ago, and Harper's Conservatives won, but without a majority of the seats. All together, the opposition parties, the Liberals, the NDP, and Bloc Quebecois, have more seats than the Conservatives. After Harper introduced a plan last week in response to the economic crisis, the Opposition didn't think he was doing enough. They got together and announced that they would defeat the plan in a vote of no confidence and bring down the government. Normally that would mean new elections, but this time, the opposition is saying they would form a coalition government without elections. To my knowledge, this has never been done before. Harper's response is to ask the Governor-General of Canada (who's on a Eurpean trip) to prorogue Parliament until the New Year. I don't think that's ever been done before either. So all hell is breaking loose, but you'd never know it from the American media. Until this morning, I hadn't seen any mention of this in the New York Times, The Washington Post, or any of the other mainstream media outlets.

Harper seems to have taken a page from Bush's playbook in questioning the patriotism of anyone who disagrees with him. He also seems to have Bush's disregard for the facts.



Great fun, isn't it?

Eat your heart out Marian!

I've been boatless in Seattle for the last couple of months while WaveGuide was up in Anacortes getting a fresh paint job. Yesterday, Joe drove me up there so Farley and I could bring the boat back. It was a pretty good day for a boat ride. Intermittent sunshine with ight winds from the NE, and waves no more than a foot or so high. Just crank up the stereo and it doesn't get much better, right? Well, it got a lot better off Point No Point when I ran into a pod of at least a dozen Killer Whales. From a distance, I could see a small boat, and around it were intermittent flashes of spray. I thought someone was out on the sound in a jet ski. As I got closer, I realized the flashes of spray were whales! I changed course so that the whales would be coming toward me, and I wouldn't be looking at the sun while watching the whales. Then a couple of whales appeared right in front of the boat, so I immediately shut down the engines and just drifted. In time, all the whales came my way, with a couple of them no more than twenty feet off my stern! Farley was on his hind legs wondering what the hell was going on. I wish I could have got a shot of him looking at a whale while the whale was surfacing. But I didn't, so these shots will have to do.

Hawaii, continued

I had never been on a cruise ship before, and I never would have gone except for Mom's invitation. It's not that often that Mom, Marian, Martha and me get together, and not since our Mexican Mennonite adventure in 2001, have we been together for a week. That experience alone made the trip memorable.

As for the cruise itself, it was much as I expected. Lots of freshly-scrubbed, red-faced, well-fed and pious Midwesterners, some with their children, and some with their parents. The food was very good, and there was lots of it. We ate mostly in the Aloha Cafe because no reservations were required, and the buffet had a constantly changing menu of mostly pretty good stuff. And they had BIG plates. You could really pile it on if you felt the need, and lots of those well-fed Midwesterners felt the need. I was reminded of Hal's story about standing in line at a big buffet somewhere and striking up a conversation with a rather corpulent man beside him in line. The corpulent man was complaining that one of the problems with being on vacation was that it was really easy to eat too much. Without thinking, Hal replied that it looked like he'd been on vacation for quite some time.

I didn't talk a whole lot of politics on board. Our President-elect came into the conversation on three occasions, and all three times the well-fed Midwesterners expressed some variation of the theme that Obama was a communist, a socialist, a baby-killer, a Moslem, or all of the above. For the most part, I held my tongue. I was badly outnumbered, and wouldn't have stood a chance if one of those church ladies sat on me. Some people might say, "But Walter, those people are really the salt of the earth." My reply would be, "To me they look more like the fat of the land."

I made some great choices of reading material for the trip. I managed to read 3-1/2 books on the trip, proving to me that my internet-induced-attention-deficit-disorder (IIADD) is not a chronic ailment, and given the right circumstances I can still focus and enjoy reading something longer than a web page. In additon to three complete New Yorker magazines, I read three books. They are: The Limits of Power, by Andrew J. Bacevich; Crash Proof, by Peter D. Schiff; and Deer Hunting with Jesus, by Joe Bageant. The Limits of Power and Crash Proof take on the same theme, but from different angles. Both books deal with the coming end of American power - The Limits of Power from a military and diplomatic point of view, and Crash Proof from an economic perspective. Both books essentially say that the American post-WWII preeminence was squandered by borrowing and consuming rather than saving and producing. I'd highly recommend both of them.

Deer Hunting with Jesus is a well-written and entertaining book about rednecks and white trash in a small town in Virginia. Sarah Palin would probably call it the "Real America." Joe Bageant is an aging Vietnam War vet who left town in the sixties and then returned to his roots 30 years later. In those 30 years, Joe never lost his 60's progressive political perspective, while the town and most of its inhabitants as well as family and old friends swung way to the right. It's the kind of town where a $10/hr job on the swing shift at the local Rubbermaid plant and a modular home is as good as it gets. He touches on some of the same themes as The Limits of Power and Crash Proof, except that the people he writes about are at the bottom of the economic/political power ladder, and will suffer the most from America's slide. The ironic thing is that these people still support the politicians who put them and keep them at the bottom. This is another book I'd highly recommend.

The book I'm half-way through is Angler, by Barton Gellman. It is a well-researched and sobering book about Dick Cheney's vice presidency and the abuse of power. I'll write more about it when I've finished it.