Caught Lily in a moment of unguarded bliss as she mauled a chew toy:
If you click on the picture and embiggen it, you can see she holds the stick as she eats it. I’m really hoping she does not teach Tunch how to hold things, or I might be in serious trouble.
Also, the Balloon Juice store has an entire new line of apparel for Charlie’s Angels Animal Rescue. Go check it out. All profits go to Charlie’s Angels, of course.
Finally, new Pacific and Treme tonight.
MikeJ
A perfectly cromulent picture.
abscam
You go, Lily!
TBogg
Lily is filling out nicely, almost Tunch-like, but don’t tell her that or she’ll just get upset and develop an eating disorder.
jeff
My cat can open doors with the doorknob, if it’s a light door. She also opens cabinets in the kitchen, for which I must resort to rubber bands. She likes to push bottles out of the cabinets and watch them explode on the tile floor below. It’s very endearing.
SIA
Magge used to do something I’ve never seen another dog do – she’d take an acorn or other delicacy and put it on the top of her paw, using it as a little plate.
Thanks for the Lily open thread. I am absolutely hiding from any news or discussion about the gulf disaster; it’s just too soul wrenching.
Miss Lily looking very fetching btw.
Annie
@jeff:
Woke up from a nap this afternoon, and found one of our cats eating a chicken breast on the floor by our bed…I had left chicken on the kitchen counter…Our cats never jump on the counters…How she managed to jump on the counter, knock the chicken breast off, and carry it upstairs is beyond me…I was both pissed and proud…
Lily looks wonderful. Watched for the first time Treme last night and now am hooked…Thanks, John.
RedKitten
Lily’s looking just lovely.
And it’s not unusual for dogs to do that. I used to give Dreyfus Dentastix every day, and he’d hold them just like that.
robertdsc
Such a beautiful dog. Love her to pieces.
WereBear
Dogs are pretty good about that; I used to fill puzzle cubes for my puppies, and some of them caught onto the moves needed to get the treat to fall out. Others just chased it all over and cracked me up. Either way, a win.
Cats are actually more dexterous; the whiskers on their paws (officially, vibrissae, but no one calls them that) are actually mapped to their visual cortex, so they kinda “see” with them. They use their paws for prey catching much more than dogs so, so cats are more likely to manipulate knobs and switches. And Tupperware.
Svensker
Lily has some tongue on her. What a goooood doggie!
Thanks for a Happy Picture. Today is teh stinkeroo. Happy doggie makes it a little bit better.
Chris Johnson
John, you’ve got those tooth whitener scam people on your advertising. Do you like to kick those people out or do you just sort of take their money and say WTF?
http://hubpages.com/hub/The-Single-Mom-Teeth-Whitening-Scam
Chat Noir
@SIA:
Agreed. I was sobbing the past two nights watching the news from the Gulf. You know, there were a couple of guys canvassing my neighborhood early last week; the car they were driving was loaded with Republican bumper stickers, one of which said “drill here, drill now.”
Lily is most definitely a welcome respite from all the bad news.
mikey
The last two episodes of The Pacific have been spectacular in a way TV/Movies very seldom are. I watch everything on the computer, on a 20″ monitor, and find that to be more than adequate. Those two episodes were the only thing I’ve ever seen that made me wish I had a big screen TV…
mikey
General Egali Tarian Stuck
It has been cloudy windy and cold here today in the new month of May. And now it’s snowing. Humans are too stupid to survive much longer and dogs and cats should run the world.
I say the Charlie/Lily ticket for 2012 presnit. Tunch can be Secretary of Tuna in the Deep Blue (now black) Sea.
Charlie one
Charlie two in the wind./
Bnut
@mikey:
I agree. I think the show has picked up the past few episodes. Last week was riveting. In my mind I compare it to Band of Brothers, but I finally realized how different they are. BoB seemed more character driven, while the Pacific seems more about events and the place.
jeffreyw
Too much provolone?
jeffreyw
New guy.
Ejoiner
Thanks to my new Roku, we just wrapped up season 4 of “Heroes.” I gotta say, for a show a lot of people warned me away from I really have enjoyed this season. I thought it had one of the best season wrap-ups I’ve seen in a long while (not counting the always excellent “Lost” climaxes). Hope to check out the Pacific when it’s on DVD.
jeffreyw
Have a bite.
Annie
@General Egali Tarian Stuck:
Great pictures…I just love that little guy…:)
SIA
@General Egali Tarian Stuck: Charlie is VERY adorable.
Woofie will be in charge of terrierists in the Charlie-Lily administration: http://www.flickr.com/photos/49787536@N02/4573252202/
TBogg
@Chris Johnson:
I’m getting the Evony cleavage ad. Moar pleez. Thankyew
jeffreyw
U Lie!
SIA
@Chat Noir: I usually make myself watch-listen to all the info, even bad news (ie I watched W’s press conferences until I gave up in ’06) but this is so excruciating. It feels like the first few frames of a very long, slow motion disaster movie, except that it’s fucking real, and it didn’t have to happen.
One commenter on another site said we have hit the earth in an artery and she is hemorrhaging before our eyes and we’re powerless to stop it.
So, back to reading about puppies & kitties, food, TV and any other small comfort that’s out there. Foyle’s War is on PBS tonight.
Svensker
@TBogg:
It figures I’m getting Home Depot. Not that I’m into cleavage, but it’s depressing — even the ads I get are boring!
Svensker
@SIA:
It can’t be a new one, can it? That would be too good. Michael Kitchen is totally hawt.
SIA
@Svensker: Could be worse. I’m getting an ad asking me to “Free Newt”. What, did someone catch him and put him in a jar?
And NO! I am NOT complaining about the ads. I love the ads.
ETA: Amber is creepy.
SIA
@Svensker: I just assumed it was a re-run, but the description says “New” and original air date 5-2-10. I have rather a small pash for M. Kitchen myself. Woohoo! (Might be a mistake though – I thought the series had officially ended with the end of the war).
Annie
I am getting “Amber” and I apparently won a $1,000 gift certificate….
Is that for Amber?
ChockFullO'Nuts
This link is to the video of 60 Minutes’ “All American Canal” story from tonight’s show.
I urge all to watch it. I had just woken up from a nap and was a little spacy as it came on, and I spent a good deal of the twelve minutes of the story wondering whether I was imagining what I saw. One of the most shocking and disturbing stories I have ever seen.
Even more disturbing are some of the comments on 60 Minutes’ website about the story. You will need to brace yourself to read them.
Just one of many comments in the same vein.
In a nutshell, the All American Canal runs parallel to the Mexican border west of Yuma, Arizona, through 80 miles of California desert to the Imperial Valley.
People are drowning in this canal at an alarming rate, because it creates a natural moat between Mexico and the United States at a location that is heavily used for illegal border crossing. To get into the US, these immigrants have to swim the canal. Many drown, including kids.
What makes the story really compelling is that the authorities refuse to install simple safety equipment such as buoys and climbout ladders that would prevent most of the drownings.
You have to see the whole thing. I still can’t totally believe what I saw. It’s got some shocking aspects that I will leave out of my post so as not to spoil the effect for you when you see it. But one I will mention, to give you an idea, is that the authorities are trying technology that will enable them to let fish get past the most serious hazards in the canal … but won’t spend a dime to help humans who are drowning on a regular basis.
I have driven across this canal many dozens of times over the years on my way to and from California and Arizona, and never knew of this shocking situation. I am embarrassed and shocked to find it out. Something really has to be done.
jeff
Larry Johnson on the tv. Can’t somebody refresh CNN’s rolodex?
Violet
Aww…Lily looks so happy! She’s such a totally different dog from when you got her, John. It’s obvious she’s loved and cared for. Lovely doggie.
Brachiator
@Svensker:
As worthy as these shows are, count me in for Foyle’s War,
on PBS tonight.
Oh very yes!
It always amazes me that a British TV series can consist of as few as three or four episodes.
Foyle, excellently played by Michael Kitchen, is like a low key, tight-lipped Columbo. He is often dismissed as a mere policeman (especially in episodes revolving around supposedly superior military intelligence types), but his intelligence and deep sense of justice always reels in the guilty fish.
The series also features the lovely, ridiculously named actress Honeysuckle Weeks, as Foyle’s driver Sam Stewart.
Good times.
trollhattan
Kanine kontentment, Komrade Kole. U haz it.
We used to give our first Dal big rawhide chewies, but his subsequent gas had us considering moving into the backyard, so we stopped. Bruno’s mass was approx Lilyx3, so hopefully you’re not similarly threatened.
Kute pic!
stooleo
So here in Nashville the rain has finally stopped, for the time being. Over the last 36 hours, according to the weather station at the airport, rain acumulation has topped 12 inches. Other areas have reported over 17 inches of rain. The electricity has been out since 4 am,and I’m typing this in on my Blackberry, by candle light. A number of friends have flooded out basements, thankfully I’m not dealing with that. I’m truly struck by the contridiction of having no electricity and yet being able to do a blog comment from a phone. Brave new world…Hope all you BJ’s have had a great weekend.
SIA
@stooleo: I saw the weather radar today – looked like a LOT of rain. What are you doing – charging your BB in your car?
stooleo
Nope, I don’t have a car charger. Hoping we get electricity before the phone dies. I have never seen so much rain, I feel like one of Noah’s unfortunate neighbors.;)
John Cole
Excellent. A thread calling my pets fat and bitching about the ads.
This is new and original.
Steeplejack
@SIA:
It was a new episode. I, too, thought the series ended last season, with the last episode around VE-Day. But this one takes place in June 1945 and revolves around some Russian POWs (they fought with the Germans) about to be repatriated to face Stalin’s wrath.
If anyone missed it, the PBS stations usually show it later tonight and then again later in the week.
From an aesthetic point of view, it did feel like a bit of an afterthought to a series that had come to a natural end. Like someone woke up and thought, “
JeezI say, we can still make some money on this.” The episode didn’t feel as solid as previous ones.frosty
Well of course she holds the chew stick. Every dog I’ve ever lived with has done that. Lily’s hold reminds my of our white mutt from years ago, which somehow seemed more delicate than the mashdown between the paws that our German Shepherds delivered.
JenJen
That was a rough ep of “The Pacific” tonight. First one that really felt like a gut-punch. Iwo Jima was hell on earth.
trollhattan
@JenJen:
Jauzuz, worse than last week’s? I thought they had the brutality dial set on 11 for that one. At least I can’t say I haven’t been warned.
Gatsby
Lily’s coat is so nice! Sign of a well cared-for dog.
I must say she looks really, really, content with herself.
Church Lady
John, enjoy every second you have with Lily (and the ever corpulent Tunch) because time flies way too fast. The tumor in Lola’s mouth is particulary aggressive and, in addition to increasing in size as it grows down from the roof of her mouth, is growing up into her nasal passages, making it difficult for her to breathe. The vet said we would know when it was time, and he was right. Both kids come in from their respective colleges this weekend, so that they could say their goodbyes. We’re taking her to the vet tomorrow to have her put to sleep and my heart is absolutely breaking. Losing her is making me cry almost as much as losing my Dad last year did. Strangely enough, we lost Dad last year on May 4, the day after his 77th birthday, and we’ll lose Lola tomorrow, on his birthday. Life is inexplicable sometimes.
General Egali Tarian Stuck
@Church Lady: Sorry to hear this CL. Has to be a painful thing to do.
Steeplejack
@Church Lady:
So sorry for your loss. It’s terrible when you have to let them go. My last two cats lasted 18 years (put down at vet’s) and 21 years (died at home). I still miss them every day.
SIA
@Steeplejack: I tend to agree with your assessment, though a so-so Foyle’s War is still better than most anything else on TV (I haven’t ever seen the shows I hear about here like Chuck).
A couple things were confusing – Milner acting like an asshole all of a sudden – I don’t remember anything in the last “final” episodes that explain that. And I don’t think they quite know what to do with Sam Stewart – guess they’re sticking her in the guest house in case she’ll be put back in. I always thought she “liked” Foyle, and he her. It definitely wasn’t as cohesive as the shows usually are, but I still enjoyed it.
Maybe it will gel a bit more in the next 3 episodes.
trollhattan
@Church Lady:
Very, very sorry to read this. Please accept my best wishes.
SIA
@Church Lady: Been through that, more than I care to think about. I’m sorry for your losses.
SiubhanDuinne
@Church Lady: I am so very sorry. This is without question the toughest thing we as pet owners are ever asked to do, and you and your family hhave my sincere sympathy. But you are doing the right thing for Lola. A speedy and commfortable transition to her, to where she will be free of pain. Thinking of you.
SIA
@SiubhanDuinne: I was just thinking about you tonight! Hadn’t ‘seen’ you lately. Hope all is well with you.
Steeplejack
@SIA:
The more I think about it, the more the episode doesn’t really hang together. I was at my brother’s house, and one of his housemates came in during the show, and in trying to get her caught up I realized what a mess it is, because it was so hard to explain. On VE-Day (in May 1945) they were all together and everything was as usual. Now, a mere month or so later, Milner is in Brighton, Foyle is still in Hastings, and Sam Stewart is apparently out of the service and working for the crotchety artist dude–but acting like she has been with him for ages. WTF?!
Then, as you said, Milner was uncharacteristically acting like an asshole. But Foyle was being unusually prickly with him. And don’t get me started on the budding subplot with Sam meeting the (eligible) chap from Hastings at the hotel in London.
Ugh. I hope they don’t screw this up. Foyle’s War was remarkable for its tone and consistency, and this new set is not starting out well.
SIA
@Steeplejack: I didn’t catch where it was just a month from VE day. Somewhere in the script, Sam does tell Foyle she’d only been working for Sir Leonard 2-3 weeks. I find it incredible that she would pose for the artist IN THE NUDE. The parson’s daughter? I don’t think so. And why bring in the young guy Sam meets in London? They keep hinting around the edges about a relationship between Foyle and Sam (ie when CF talks about going to America, Sam offers to help him since they drive on “the other side of the road”). But at the “final” episode, I got the impression it was the son who was going to pair off with Sam.
I’m going to watch it again later in the week. Sometimes it’s hard to be objective first viewing, especially as Michael Kitchen can pull off even the most implausible script, and the other actors and the sets are superb. The flaws lie in the story line. I agree, hope they don’t cash in the series and lose the super-fine quality of the past programs.
Yutsano
@RedKitten: When I first saw that picture, I thought she HAD a Dentastix. I was at my sucky work computer however, plus JC revealed it was just a stick. BTW Lily is not fat.
Steeplejack
@SIA:
I think there was a supertitle in the very first scene that said “June 1945.”
Agree with you that I thought Foyle’s pilot son was going to end up with Sam eventually, but he’s nowhere to be seen in this episode–not even referenced.
And another thing–I am whipping myself up–what was the deal with all the jokes and bits about hoarding and hardship and no food and the hotel demanding a deposit on a light bulb, etc.? Like things weren’t rough during the actual war?!
All in all, it feels like someone thought it was a bad idea to end the series and tried–not very successfully, so far–to reanimate the corpse. Actually, I would have been fine with it ending at the end of the war. I mean, the series is called Foyle’s War, not Foyle’s War and the Dreary, Crabby Postwar Years.
Brachiator
@Steeplejack:
Actually, Foyle’s family, wife and son, are mentioned a few times (for example, when Foyle and his former CO are catching up at dinner).
This is a matter of historical accuracy. In Britain, especially, rationing continued until well after the war. Shortages of all kinds of stuff continued into the 60s.
This underscores the desperation of the returning vet who couldn’t get his job back. The background of the British elections and the victory of labor also adds all kinds of irony (doubly so in the light of the upcoming British elections this May).
I don’t totally disagree with you here. But the decision to end the original series was a bit hasty, and the creators then decided quickly to end the series in May, 1945 on VE Day. But they also told the TV executives that they thought that the last episodes would be a ratings success. When they were proved right, the execs decided to bring the series back again for one more go.
Next week’s episode looks pretty strong, though again a somewhat predictable storyline, especially when compared to the recently concluded Masterpiece Theater program, Small Island.
By the way, I hope they don’t do anything dumb like hooking up Foyle and Sam. That’s the kind of craptastic stuff that you get on any American series.
John Cole
Church Lady- I’m really sorry. Please send me a pic so everyone can say goodbye.
Svensker
@SIA:
@Brachiator
It WAS new episode! It was, it was!
Thanks for cluing me in. Yippee!
Steeplejack
@Brachiator:
I get that the postwar rationing, etc., is historically accurate. What I was complaining about was its use as a bit of ongoing shtick throughout the episode. Again, another element in sharp contrast to the rest of the series.
I hope the new episodes are good, but last night was not a promising start.
Annie
@Church Lady:
I am so sorry….
asiangrrlMN
@Church Lady: Church Lady, my deepest sympathies to you and your family on the loss of your loved one. May Lola run swiftly to the other side and look in on you from time to time so she can comfort you.
Cole, Lily is looking lovely as always. It warms my heart to see the change from when you first brought her home. She is not fat, and neither is my beloved Tunchie.
General Stuck and SIA, both Charlie and Woofie are absolutely adorable!
@jeffreyw: No such thing. That is a work of art, my friend.
Brachiator
@Church Lady:
Very sorry to read about your loss. My sympathies to you.
CynDee
@jeffreyw: Your food! It kills me. It just kills me.
Boo
Lily is sooo plush.