I picked up Leverage last week after I asked about it, and I’ve watched the first couple of episodes and I like the show a lot. In fact, I might watch an episode or two tonight.
Also, I am going to go through the site redesign open thread and pull out your comments and see where we are going to go with this, and I expect to pass on the request to the designer tomorrow. Depending on schedules, that means things might happen this weekend.
And finally, puppies:
I have no idea why Lily lies like that, but she does a lot. Must be comfortable, although I don’t recall seeing other dogs lie like that.
Blue Raven
She does it because she can, John.
protected static
Pit bulls lie like that…
dricey
I have a chocolate lab, and he lies like that all the time, especially when he’s hot after playing or walking. I guess it exposes more blood-rich and fur-poor surface area tgo the (relatively) cool ground.
For a while, he even had my cat lying that way, but he snapped out of it.
General Winfield Stuck
There’s a little Terrier called Pookie of some around here that does that. Maybe to dispel body heat is all I can figure. Or some kind of doggie do-it-yourself chiropracti.
lost in GA
Keeps the tummy cool.
demkat620
My JRT lies like that all the time. My vet said that means his hips are good. And it relaxes their spines.
Alan
I hope today’s Rush Limbaugh rant is covered somewhere in the blogosphere. I heard a bit of it on Hardball. The cognitive dissonance on the Right is reaching new heights.
Derek
My aunt’s dog, a semi-uncommon breed called a Harrier, kinda like between a beagle and foxhound, only ever lies like that. It also never rolls belly up, which is kinda weird, too.
donovong
We have two poms that do that all the time, especially on the cool hardwood floor after a walk. I think lost in GA (I can relate to that!) is probably right.
donnah
Hey, Derek, we have a mixed breed dog who isn’t a Harrier, but she’s a mix between a beagle and foxhound. Like a beagle on stilts.
She doesn’t lie like that, but a friend’s dog, a Sheltie, does. It cools off her belly on pavement.
Fulcanelli
Damn, between the birthers getting punk’d and Tweety mercilessly clubbing some asshat from FreedomWorks like a baby seal tonight this has been a good day.
Dogs do that shit sometimes, John. Mine do, anyway.
abo gato
Both my Jack Russells lie that way too…..we call it frog legging…..it must help them cool off since they do it after they’ve been tearing around the yard. Since they are JRT’s, that pretty much means they do it all the time.
General Winfield Stuck
@Alan:
I heard just a snippet about that. Something about Nazi’s and banning smoking, or some such nonsense.
javafascist
Leverage is a fine, fine show, made all the better by Jane from Coupling (Gina Bellman.)
Dave C
I once had a weiner dog-rat terrier mix who sat like that.
javafascist
@Fulcanelli
Flip over to talkingpointsmemo to see the beat down Rick Sanchez delivered for your dessert.
Xecklothxayyquou Gilchrist
My nephew’s golden retriever lies like that on the kitchen floor. It’s one of the silliest things I’ve ever seen.
RedKitten
Fantastic photo. It cracks me up how Lily’s legs are splayed like a deboned chicken, but that tail is as jaunty as ever.
And Sam is such an adorable little moptop. I just love her to bits.
Josh Huaco
@General Winfield Stuck:
Organic food, environmentalism and banning smoking? Fascist.
Chauvinistic militarism in the service of authoritarian, corporatist regimes that rose to power by exploiting revanchist cultural populism? Not fascist.
Got that?
Violet
Her tail really makes that pose. It’s like a handle – you could pick her up. I think she’s just trying to stay cool – maxing out the fur to cool pavement ratio.
She’s got such a blissed out look on her face in so many pictures. She really is a happy dog.
beltane
Is Lily part beagle? I have seen beagles sit like that. My lab is nowhere graceful enough.
General Winfield Stuck
@Josh Huaco:
Unfortunately, yes.
Danton
I seem to recall a vet telling me this position isn’t that good for a dog and can lead to hip problems later in life. The vet may have had a particular breed in mind, though, so just disregard this. Sorry.
Ben
Lily’s pose is called the “dead cricket”… my Basset’s like it and it looks like a dead cricket, hence name.
freelancer
“Leverage is a fine, fine show, made all the better by Jane from Coupling (Gina Bellman.)”
I’ll see your Gina Bellman and raise you a Beth Reisgraf!
Josh Huaco
When I type “Ein volk” into the search bar on my Safari browser, the third suggestion that comes up is “Ein volk ein reich ein Obama.”
Clinically, DSM-IV to the letter, insane.
JD Rhoades
Clifford, our Golden Retriever (R.I.P.) used to lie down like that. We called him “Rug Dog.”
JK
Rush Limbaugh’s Nazi Comparison
RUSH: Nancy Pelosi is the Speaker of the House. She is very powerful, one of the most powerful people in the country. This is what I mean by unraveling. She’s running around now claiming that we’re Nazis, that not only are we an unruly mob but that people are showing up wearing swastikas when, in fact, I have a story here from the Washington Post, Howard Kurtz, July 28, 1997: “Two senators call a news conference to present an average, hardworking American who — to their embarrassment — turns out to have a Nazi swastika tattooed on his arm. Is that news? Several major media organizations didn’t think so. The West Virginia truck driver was trotted out by Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) and Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) as someone who would be helped by the Clinton tax plan. Rockefeller, clearly unaware of the tattoo, introduced the man as ‘a very close and personal friend.'”
So these guys back in 1997 shilling for Clinton’s tax plan, bring out a guy, close personal friend of J. Rockefeller, actually has a swastika tattooed on his arm. The news media didn’t think any big deal about it because this all happened when he was a teenager, it’s no big deal. The speaker of the House accusing people of showing up at these town hall meetings of wearing swastikas, that is not insignificant, folks. This woman is deranged. They are unraveling, but that is not insignificant. You have the Democrat Speaker of the House saying that people, citizens who are concerned about health care are now wearing swastikas. She’s basically saying that we are Nazis. She is saying that the people who oppose this are Nazis, and I’m going to tell you what. I’m going to run down the list here later on in the program, but this party, the Democrat Party and where it’s taken this country, the radical left leadership of this party bears much more resemblance to Nazi policies than anything we on the right believe in at all, and I’ll go through that list in just a second.
However, if you go to RushLimbaugh.com right now in the orange banner at the top of the website, you will see a headline: “Was Pelosi So Wrong About Swastikas?” Steve Gilbert at Sweetness & Light heard my reaction to the Obama health care logo the other day. I mentioned something about it reminded me of Germany in 1942, the shape of the logo, the people. I said, “I haven’t seen this in many, many years.” And if you go and take a look at this, you will find that the Obama health care logo is damn close to a Nazi swastika logo. I’m going to show you people watching on the Dittocam this, and there you are. The middle frame is the Obama health care logo. At the bottom is an official Nazi logo, eagle and everything, spread wings, or bird with spread wings. Ms. Pelosi has some major apologizing to do. I know that numerous repeated Botox injections can cause blurry vision, but I don’t think Ms. Pelosi can use that as an excuse. They are really unraveling. They are really falling apart. Listen to her again. This is at San Francisco General Hospital. Do you think there is a legitimate grassroots opposition going on here?
Source: http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_080609/content/01125106.guest.html
MikeJ
When it comes to site redesign, the only thing you really, really need is competent hosting. People who know how to make the site secure, know how to fix it if things go wonky, and know that properly run mysql boxes require tuning.
Your existing (or existing as of a few weeks ago) feature set is/was fine. Use a competent host and everything else is gravy.
Now that I’m done addressing John, to Lily:
Who’s the good dog? Who’s the good dog? You are! Yes, you’re the good doggie!
arguingwithsignposts
I wish I had some dogs to talk about. I hope to get one someday. What’s a good small- to medium-size dog that does well with kids and trains well?
I’ve got some cat talk from my girlfriend’s cats, but that’s it. {sigh} Where’s tunch when you need him.
Demo Woman
Since this is an open thread, I am writing my GA congressmen to see where they stand on Medicare. Medicare is a single payer, government run program and I want them on record.
It’s important that every member of Congress give their views.
Make sure that you write, email or call your congressmen to find out if they support single payer, government run Medicare.
Lesley
Dogs splaying their back legs is common. Lily’s relaxing and giving her hips a stretch. Her pose is identical to one in yoga called “the frog” but most of us aren’t as flexible as Lil.
I notice her head is elevated. She’s happy, confident, proud. Good job, J. Cole.
lamh31
Anybody else like “Fringe” on FOX? I missed the season last year, so I bought it for my TIVO, and I am hooked. I hate trying to watch shows once they’ve already finished 1 season, cause it seems kinda hard to catch up, but I heard lots of good things bout “fringe” so I decided to go ahead and give it a try.
Besides, I have developed an aversion to all things “Dawson Creek” related, so I just couldn’t stand to watch Joshua Jackson i.e. Pacey from the Creek (that what me and my peeps used to call it, lame I know) but I got past that, and am not looking forward to the new season in September
Anya
Can someone remind me if CNN was this obsessed with issuing report cards to past presidents. I was too young and two shallow to have followed politics before (in my defense I became a voting age during Bush’s second election.)
Demo Woman
@arguingwithsignposts: Golden Retrievers are great with kids but they are not small.
My rescue mutt is good with kids. She’s 18 lbs and I like to think of her as a mini deer hound. John spent time with Lily before bringing her home with Tunch and it’s important to do that with a rescue, imo.
Trinity
@lamh31: LOVE Fringe. That JJ Abrams knows what he’s doing. Fringe and the first season of Leverage were what I enjoyed most last season.
RedKitten
This might help a bit for narrowing it down.
http://animal.discovery.com/breedselector/dogselector.do
Of course, mutts are beyond awesome as well (like the two wonderful examples we see in this very post!) It’s always nice to have an idea as to what breeds make up your mutt, though, just to have a bit of an idea with regards to temperament, grooming needs, energy level, and potential health issues.
And then there are your own preferences, as well. I have a soft spot for terriers, because I find they have a lot of character and are a little bit mischievous. That’s exactly what other people DON’T like about them.
demkat620
John, she looks so happy. And it is easy to tell you couldn’t be happier with her. What a good match!
Xero
I have a mixed breed (chihuahua/beagle) that looks similar to your dog, and he lies like that all the time. I think it may be to cool down his underside since he only does it on hard surfaces or in the grass.
Warren Terra
We had a Dalmation who did that, and our vet said that it was common but related to hip problems common in the breed later in life. Obviously the two vets disagree (or the reasons the two breed splay their legs in that way differ), so I’m basically left having no idea.
Re the redesign, as I recall from reading the thread people were pretty happy with the old site, only wanting fewer crashes and a couple of features to work better. There were a few people asking for threaded comments, but iirc more disagreeing, often vehemently.
shelley matheis
Plenty of others have chimed in, but my sister’s hound-mix would always lie like that , to everybody’s delight. He’d also take his sweet time lowering himself down. We’d all chant, as the butt slowly went down, ‘beep-beep-beep….’
He never took offense as far as I recall.
JK
@Anya:
You’re witnessing the further dumbing down of journalism.
This is pure unadulterated bullshit and a serious dereliction of duty. This is the American Idolization of the presidency. The MSM now takes it as a given that Obama’s poll numbers have to be updated every other nanosecond.
Check out this article for the quotes by journalists bitching and moaning about the difficlty of reporting on the health care
Health care talk sinks Obama press conference ratings
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0709/25385.html
We’re dealing with a lazy, infantile Washington press corps who only want to talk poll numbers because dissecting and analyzing complex issues hurts their brains.
HumboldtBlue
Lily lies like a Republican staffer trying to cover up his boss’ trip to the Appalachian trail.
Demo Woman
@RedKitten:
And by mischievous, do you mean hole in the back yard. Moxie spends her day on the great scavenger hunt.
KG
i use to have an Australian Sheppard/Lab mix that use to lay like that. My sister has a Corgi that lays similar to that, but her hips aren’t wide quite enough to spread like that, so her feet just go straight back.
robertdsc
My parents have a Chihuahua mutt that lays like that. She also drags herself along the ground while in that position, too.
The Saff
The wheaten terror lays like that all the time. I call it “frog dog.” Those two in the pix are totally delicious.
Oh, and cash for clunkers is getting $2 billion more.
RandomChick
@RedKitten:
Not all terriers are super high strung, though. We have a border terrier (Benji-type dog) and he is the coolest, most laid back dog I know. I am, of course, a bit biased.
He’s great w/ kids and other animals. When we were hand feeding baby birds last week, he was extremely interested in sniffing them, but absolutely calm and gentle.
They are an expensive breed, but worth every penny in my personal experience.
http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/borderterrier.htm
RandomChick
@RedKitten:
Weird, my comment disappeared into the ether when I hit submit.
What I was trying to say was that not all terriers are super high strung. We have a border terrier (Benji-type dog) that is the coolest, most laid back dog I’ve ever met, but I am biased.
He’s super smart and good w/ kids and other animals.
They are a little expensive, but I cannot recommend the breed enough.
http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/borderterrier.htm
JGabriel
Jebus Christ, these stories about Obama only getting 50% job approval are fucking annoying. Because they’re dishonest.
The Q-Pac and CBS/Times polls show lower approval and disapproval ratings because they have really, really high undecideds and neutrals, over 20% when added together.
That leaves Obama’s approval/disapproval at about 2:1 in those polls, which is about the same, even a little higher, than in polls that push for a response, or don’t include undecided and neutral.
Check it out at Pollster.com. For a more accurate graph, turn off the polls from Rasmussen (because they’re biased), internet polls (because they’re useless), and CBS/Times and Q-Pac, because of the inordinately high U’s & N’s, and turn the sensitivity up to high.
You end up with a trend of about 60% approval, 35% disapproval. Down a little bit, but nowhere near the 50% mark.
.
lamh31
Who didn’t see this coming?
Violence at Tampa health care forum
“Tampa, Florida – Angry protesters and strong supporters are clashing inside and all around a health care reform town hall meeting in Downtown Tampa. The meeting which was scheduled to begin at 6:00 at the Children’s Board of Hillsborough County drew hundreds of people who quickly began to overwhelm staff and event organizers at the front entrance.
As the building filled to capacity, angry protesters stuck outside began to scream, yell, and chant. At one point, those trying to get inside began banging on windows as Tampa Police officers quickly spread out guarding all entrances.
10 Connects photojournalist Kevin Carlson, currently inside the meeting reports at least one fist fight breaking out inside. Some other journalists remain outside.
Democratic Congresswoman Kathy Castor and State Representative Betty Reed were hosting the event.
UPDATE 7:13pm
Police on bullhorns are trying to break-up the crowd outside the building on 1002 E. Palm Ave.
Many in the crowd are refusing to go.
UPDATE 7:32pm
The forum has ended early.”
RandomChick
I want to talk too! Why does Balloon Juice hate me today? All my comments are disappearing when I hit submit.
Trying for a 3rd time.
Paddy
Video- Chris Matthews whomping FreedomWorks shill
Video- CNN’s Rick Sanchez smacks down health care CEO funding anti reform effort
Lots of fun stuff tonight.
RandomChick
Huh, maybe it was the “respond to” linky thing. Anyone else having this issue?
MikeJ
@RandomChick: Not that I know of. Are you a soçialist, or talk about foot ware a lot?
lamh31
Later update on the violence in Tampa I linked to from TPM:
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/08/had_to_happen.php?ref=fpblg
General Winfield Stuck
@lamh31:
This will keep the wingnut blogosphere up all night drawing Red Roses on the steamy piles of hooliganism.
Josh Huaco
@lamh31:
Good lord. Don’t these people realize that they’re going to look like a bunch of loonies at best or a bunch of thugs at worst?
RedKitten
Quick question for any mothers out there. Any of you get your membranes stripped when getting close to your due date? How’d it work out for you? (And no, fellows, don’t worry. I’m not going to go into detail as to what that particular procedure entails. If you’re that curious, look it up.)
PeakVT
Violence at Tampa health care forum
People are now willing to threaten and commit violence in the name of keeping their fellow citizens sick and scared.
Lunacy.
jacy
Both the Delphi the cattle dog and Wilson — the new Boston mix — lay like that almost exclusively. Judging from the thread it must not be as uncommon as I thought.
Posted this on another thread and no answer yet, so I’ll post again:
Didn’t there used to be an Amazon Tip Jar on the site, or am I misremebering? I want to shoot a donation out, because I would be bereft with Balloon Juice — but I don’t use PayPal and will need to hijack the S/O’s account. I do have Amazon Accounts, and that would be easier for me.
And I love Leverage — but my pick is Christian Kane, even though he’ll always be Lindsey from Wolfram & Hart, because I’m a big Whedon-nerd.
Viva BrisVegas
John, if you like Leverage then maybe you should check out the show from which it pretty obviously derives, Hustle.
Also, Gina Bellman fans should take a look at Coupling. It will make your day.
RandomChick
@MikeJ:
No, I’m not going into moderation, just going *poof*.
BTW, nice sneaky furrin C in your “ideology that must not be named”.
General Winfield Stuck
thank You. My fainting couch is out of service.
Linkmeister
My late pointer Tigger used to lie like that, although none of those pics shows it.
General Winfield Stuck
@Josh Huaco:
They didn’t read the instruction before opening this Pandora Box.
Max
@lamh31: I love Fringe. I think Pacey’s hawt. I love the relationship between him and his crazy father. Reminds me of the relationship I had with my dad (sigh).
John Cole: my wheaten terrier always lies (lays?) like that. At 47 lbs, it looks funnier now than it did when he was a puppy. The vet says he has great hips.
Graeme
You lie like a dog, Cole!
jacy
RedKitten: had that done with the first kid when he was more than a week late. Went into labor about 30 minutes lator and he was born about two hours after that, which is licketysplit for a first one. They didn’t even have time to give me drugs.
Second child was also late, tried it again and labor did not start quickly enough for them, so I had a pitocyn drip, which was not fun. They say it increases the pain of contractions, and I fully believe them.
The other kids were some years later and I went into labor spontaneously, you know, like they show on tv.
Hope that helps!
Good luck and my best thoughts with you.
steve s
Just finished Season 5 of Angel. Not bad. Worth watching once.
Finished Season 3 of 30 Rock. Not bad, but not as good as the first 2. Too many guest stars.
Tried to finish the first season of Chuck, but just couldn’t. Too lame. The indian guy with the long hair and the bald guy are the worst-written ‘comedy’ pair I’ve ever seen.
Venture Bros Season 3–not as good as the first two. I think the novelty is just wearing off.
True Blood–2 eps left to go in the first season. Errr…it’s getting better. Anna Paquin’s accent is a bit much. The storyline’s nice and complicated though, and the characters are mostly realistic.
The best thing I’ve seen lately is Torchwood. 4 eps into the first season. It’s visually similar to (and someone told me spun off from) Dr. Who, which is the lamest thing since Lame came to Lametown, but it’s not bad. Kinda starts out dark and looks like it’s going to turn darker.
I really should put down the unsatisfactory tv and check out the book I just got, about the abuse of history:
http://features.csmonitor.com/books/2009/08/05/dangerous-games/
Anya
@JK – I really hate the MSM, specially CNN. Everything is a game to them. The report card and the pathalogical way they reduce everything to a popularity contest is disturbing. One would think that the dibacle that was the last 8 years and the severity of our problems would compell these corporate whores to salvage a tiny bit of their professional integrity and give us serious reporting.
Alan
@JK: Thanks for the link. This is part I heard on Hardball:
Alan
Oops, the second part was also part of the quote.
Linkmeister
Why can’t these astroturfers get excited about things that are really important, like “is the nominating process for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame rigged?”
This outburst brought on by this thread at Shakesville: “Who is your favorite band/musical artist/composer and which one song would you recommend to someone who’d never heard their work before?”
So I went looking for a YouTube clip of Linda Ronstadt singing Karla Bonoff’s “Someone to Lay Down Beside Me” and learned in the comments to the YouTube clip that she (Ronstadt) is not in the R&R HOF. I double-checked and it’s true; she’s not.
That’s just wrong. Torchiest rock singer of the 1970s, several covers on national news magazines, wonderful interpreter of The Great American Songbook on three albums with Nelson Riddle, etc., etc.
Where do I register a complaint and who’s with me? ;)
Alan
And, evidently, the post I was referring to is stuck in moderation. :)
steve s
I just do not fuckin get the right wing at all:
http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&safe=off&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&um=1&sa=1&q=obama+joker&aq=f&oq=&aqi=&start=0
I have no idea where that juxtaposition came from.
Paddy
lamh31 @ 33- The season finale of Fringe just floored me, cannot wait until the new season starts up. And who is this “Pacey” they speak of?
steve s @ 68- Torchwood goes up and down, but the mini series season 3 is just off the hook fantastic. Haven’t looked forward to something like that in years.
TuiMel
@The Saff:
My JRT (and every JRT with which I have been acquainted often lies like this. I, too, call it “frog dog,” my niece calls it “turkey legs.”
Melvis
My late (passed in December of ’08) beloved Jack Russell Terrier Buster sat like that. When I first got him in ’93 and joined the JRTCA, there was an ad for metal pins showing a dog in that pose; it was called “Frog Dog” which was a term of endearment I then applied to my little buddy.
Comrade Darkness
Ah, just when you thought you could not believe less of Bush… the middle east as a battle ground with Gog and Ma-Gog, the biblical evil “beings” HT Wonkette.
Chuck Butcher
Gus doesn’t do this type of repose, but 150# and full equipment might explain that. He does however, dig, and impressively – unfortunately for my yard.
DarcyPennell
@TuiMel:
My mutt who died a couple of years ago used to lie like that whenever it got hot, and we called it “frog dog” too. She also loved to wade in the creek, climb out through the muddiest spot she could find, then do frog dog and crawl forward, dragging her body through old leaves to scratch her belly. Thank god my car had leather seats, not cloth!
JK
@Anya: Amen. I think it’s time to tune out the MSM. Their childish infatuation with polling data proves that they’re just not up to the job of doing journalism anymore.
Demo Woman
@RedKitten: No, I was totally different since I started dilating 6 weeks early for both sons. It was scary for the first one but not the second. I dropped early which is uncomfortable.
Since you do have other concerns, like the feet, I would listen to the doctor or midwife and just do some research. There are reasons why you don’t want to be late. Do you happen to know the day of conception, cause that’s helpful in determining the due date.
Demo Woman
@Chuck Butcher: Moxie digs where the rabbits live and they have actually come out the other side and watched. I named the back yard Warren, GA.
RedKitten
I will thank you to not be dissing Chuck in my presence — I love that show beyond anything that is reasonable. BTW, Jeff and Lester actually become quite excellent in the second season.
General Winfield Stuck
Looks like the Union guys and gals are going to form a welcoming committee for the raging teabaggers at townhalls. Ought to be interesting.
Wilson Heath
@beltane:
I’ve commented before that I see beagle in Lily’s face. And my beagle boy lies like that a lot.
Warren Terra
Heresy!
Maybe you’re thinking of the old Dr. Who?
Seriously, you may just not have given the New Dr. Who enough of a chance – Billie Piper (and Russell T Davies’s fascination with her) can be irritating, but David Tennant and his other co-stars are fantastic, especially in the episodes written by Stephen Moffatt.
As to Torchwood, well, it goes up and down. The first episode or two are really fantastic. The main problem seems to be that the lead star John Barrowman, after putting in a memorable guest turn in the first season of Dr. Who, got lazy and became too influential and his character becomes insufficiently ambiguous. But I haven’t seen the third season yet.
You might also try Moffatt’s other sci-fi work, Jekyll (the BBC miniseries with James Nesbitt, not the made-for-TV American movie with the same name of about the same vintage).
LD50
I think they’ve long since made their peace with that.
Americans for America
@Linkmeister: The following are also not in the R & R HOF:
1. Joe Cocker
2. Warren Zevon
3. Cher
But hey at least Ahmet Ertegan and Barry Gordy, Jr are in.
Anne Laurie
Ah, the Frog Dog! As has been said, some dogs can do it, some can’t (or won’t). Of our present papillons, young Sydney, aka Goat Boy, not only splays out like that, when he’s feeling frisky he’ll drag himself along the hardwood by his front legs, which just doesn’t seem like it should be comfortable for a boy dog but what do I know. Zevon never even attempts the full frog, although he loves to lie in our bed splayed out on his back (the reverse frog?) — he’s got bad knees & I think he’s wary about popping his patellas out of position if he puts his weight on his hips when they’re angulated like that. And our old girl Flicker likes to frog out on the tile fireplace surround during hot weather, but achieving a comfortable position requires as much cautious re-positioning & grunting as I require to get out of an Andirondak chair… Good to see Lily (& Sam) looking so happy and well!
Now there’s a question that can run a thread up into the triple digits! I will just say, if you don’t already have a strong breed preference, it’s hard to go wrong following our esteemed Mr. Cole’s example: When you’ve reached a position in your life that you think you can handle adopting a dog, check out the shelters & rescue groups in your area, and start volunteering at one or two of them on a regular basis. If you are patient, eventually a dog will come along that will be THE ONE for you — maybe not the one you expected, but when it happens, you will know the true meaning of the word ‘serendipity’! And in the meantime, you’ll be doing a good thing for the community, and making positive connections with other people, which is a mood enhancer (and maybe getting some exercise, too).
JGabriel
Warren Terra:
Nor have I, but it got a fantastic review over at The Onion’s AV Club. A’s are really a pretty uncommon grade in the DVD section there, except for Criterion disks.
.
asiangrrlMN
Awwww, puppies! Who is Lily’s shaggy friend? Now, if I could just have a Tunchinator pic, I would be a happy grrl.
Jess
Just checked out the first two episodes of Leverage on JC’s req–pretty damn good!
Anne Laurie
I’m really looking forward to the second season! We don’t get FOX (no cable, poor reception area) so I too came late to the show, starting with the fifth or sixth episode on Hulu. Now I’m impatiently waiting for its release on DVD so I can catch up. From the early reviews, I didn’t expect to enjoy the show — especially since I am not a fan of Mark Valley — but I think Anna Torv, Joshua Jackson, and especially John Noble are doing an AMAZING job developing their characters. As a late-stage-Boomer, I particularly resonate with Walter Bishop’s portrayal of a man who’s committed heinous crimes in pursuit of what he once believed was a higher good, and thereby broken himself as horribly as he broke his victims. (The X Files revolved around the subtext that They are everywhere; Fringe is mutating a landscape where You, the ‘hero’, are always in danger of tipping over into They malevolence. Much scarier, at least for those of us old enough to have experienced how easy and mundane it can be.) The supporting cast is great, too. And I can’t *wait* for the start of Season 2, to see how Leonard Nimoy interprets the role of (even more) Evil Bill Gates!
ominira
Dog yoga! Looks like a modified version of the cobra pose. She’s giving you a hint to take up yoga. It can be really soothing in a world full of
birthersteabaggerscrazy people.sab
She lies like that because she can, because she’s one of the lucky, lucky dogs who doesn’t have a tendency towards hip dysplasia.
Morbo
Ouch, that chihuahua in the banner there with the fork in its head… ouch.
Delia
@JGabriel:
As to Torchwood, well, it goes up and down. … But I haven’t seen the third season yet.
The five part thing that seems to be a series finale? It was just on my Comcast freebie section so I watched it there. I must say I didn’t care for it. A lot of British TV has gone in a very 1984ish direction lately, which I totally understand and which certainly has its place. But I’ve always liked Dr. Who and its spinoffs for their ridiculous camp qualities, and I just didn’t like what they did with Torchwood.
Chuck Butcher
@asiangrrlMN: OT
Something up for you, per request
AlanDean
I haven’t seen Leverage, but Hustle is one of my favorites from the last few years. A note, though… watch them in order to get the story straight. And stop at episode #12. The one about the Crown Jewels. After Adrian Lester slipped out, the show suffered, tho’ Marc Warren is good he just can’t carry it.
In My Humble Opinion.
John Cole
@Anne Laurie: What she said. I had never planned on getting a dog, but never ruled it out. I was actually looking for another cat to keep Tunch company when I found Lily.
Warren Terra
I’m on episode 7 at the moment, so this is good to know.
Bellman is also good in the Moffatt Jekyll.
Darkrose
The first couple of eps of this season’s Leverage had me a little worried, but 3 and 4 were strong. I absolutely adore Aldis Hodge, to the point where I kind of feel like a dirty old woman. (He’s 22!)
Andrea
My 65 lb lab did the frog/chicken leg thing, sort of stretching out after a walk. A friend’s black cat does it (and she’s bigger than Tunch). Makes her look like sort a furry sea lion.
Brachiator
Oh, I don’t know. The expression on Lily’s face seems to suggest something like, “Dude. Dude! Like this feels sooooo good.”
Santiago
This is really a weird August
http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0809/Bill_OReilly_pens_ode_to_Obama_seriously.html
Andy K
Registration, John.
Make people sign up so you can shitcan the spam filtration system that throws s-o-c-i-a-l-i-s-t (minus the hyphens) into moderation.
You see a commercial spammer, you ban the IP or e-mail addy used to register (probably the latter, seeing that there are still a few ISPs- I’m looking at you, AOL- that use dynamic IP addys).
Steeplejack
@Andy K:
Easier to just upgrade/improve the spam filter so it correctly differentiates between socia1ism and cia1is. It can be done. People have been writing little parsing languages for years. At this point it’s not rocket science.
serena1313
John
Lillie hips are aligned — if they weren’t, she would not be able to lay like that; it also indicates she is less likely to have hip problems, such as arthritis, later-on. So that is a good thing.
Tunsch is a character. He is very cool. Iam sure Lillie was quite an adjustment for him. But cats are resilient — although pretend not to be. They do that to keep us on our toes!
Lillie seems like a different dog — she appears to be happier, more self-confident and self-assured. Her personality and out-going disposition reflect that. She also has an adorably sweet face.
Pat yourself on the back, you have done good.
You Don't Say
The schnauzer we had when I was growing up did that and one of my cats does it, too — not a lot but often enough. I’ve never seen my other cat do it.
Helena Montana
Our office dog lies like that–we call that posture frogdoglegs.
Anne Laurie
Problem is, lots of cranky-but-brilliant commenters will stop showing up if they have to register. And some of us that do register will end up quitting BJ because the godsdamned registration filter keeps refusing to recognize our passwords. I speak from experience.
Forget the registration idea, John — use some of the extra money from the fundraiser to pay for improving the spam filter instead. The talent is out there, and in these recessionary times probably needs the money.
Linkmeister
@Anne Laurie: When Obama’s going to keep a snitch file on Amurkans, you betcha I ain’t gonna register for no stinkin’ weblog! Why, I’ll betcha BJ would turn that info over to those peepul at Committee to Re-Elect the Presdent!
bago
BRING BACK THE IPHONE DOM. That is all.
drillfork
@Anne Laurie:
This site can certainly go on without my comments, but count me as one who wouldn’t bother to register…
bishophicks
My border terrier lies like that on cool surfaces when it’s warm out. Looks like turkey legs.
I have a site redesign idea. Get rid of the dog with the fork in its head.
Deborah
My half-rotweiller lies like that all the time–I think it’s to cool her belly on the wood floor.
jshubbub
Regarding Lily’s pose, I have a Jack Russell/Basenji mix who is marked quite similarly to Lily and lies like that all the time. Could just be a coincidence. She also drags herself by her front paws in that pose when she gets excited. I think I recall you mentioning that Lily does that as well.
hoosierteachergirl
I have two beagles – ages 15 and 16 – both of whom have always and to this day lay like that, bad hips and all…
Sabrina
Our old retriever mix used to do that pose. We called it his “coolin’ the goodies” pose.
bystander
You know, that little dog initially had a tentative expression. As if to say, I’m not sure how well this is gonna work, but I’m kind of hopeful. Now, Lily simply looks blissed-out all the time. Well done, John Cole. Very well done, indeed.
RusS
Sorry to be a wet blanket folks, but Leverage is awful, just awful. I watched last season, and its echoes of Hustle made it worthwhile. I agree the cast is fine.
However, the writing is just dreadful. The stories are filled with holes and discontinuities. The dialog can be utterly painful. And the direction just doesn’t get the actors into coherent characters.
One thing really turned me off more than any other single thing. This season’s set in Boston. Episode 2 (3?) opened in a courtroom in “Benbridge, Mass.” (something like that.) Really? Ya couldn’t name Cambridge? City names are public domain fellas. WTF?
Get the hook.
wayupnorth
Could she be part corgi ?
and part something taller
have had several pembroke corgis over the years–and they all did the frog-sit
can’t believe I unlurked to say that…