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Goat v. Poodle, part two

Oh yes, I told you there was more. Actually, there was quite a bit more...I just picked a few of the highlights to show you.

The game can go on for quite a while. Part of the poodle excitement is to race bravely past the goat with the goal being to stir her up without actually getting caught. Funny sidebar: Sabrina used to think she was the fastest dog in the world. That was until she met Phil, my greyhound. You should have seen the look on her face the first time that Phil blew past her when they were playing in my backyard. It was priceless!
As I said in the last post, there are actual head butts involved here. It appears I didn't actually catch contact being made in any of my photos, but it's not for lack of Shasta trying!
The stare-down has many variations and takes up a great deal of the time-clock. Meanwhile, Fifel is just trying to stay out of the line of fire. He's a funny little guy and I'll have to do a post soon of some of his antics.
And finally, we have a demonstration of goat ballet in its purest form:

Goat v. Poodle, part one

Well, once again I've been on a temporary hiatus. Mostly it's because I've been wildly busy. I created this blog mainly to share pictures with family and friends. While I've still been snapping away, I just have not found the time to sit down and share them with you. Of course, I periodically share some of my random, rambling thoughts with you...but I'm not really sure you want to hear all of those anyway. My mind can be a scary place!

Having said all that, I'm still a bit pushed for time, so here's a teaser of a series that definitely has more to come.

Shasta firmly believes that the highest form of sport is going after Sabrina, the standard poodle.

First, there's the stare-down (note Sabrina's instinctual response of the play bow):
Then there's the wind-up:
And....and....more staring....hmmmm....
That's not to say that there isn't some actual head-butts, but we'll save those for another day. ;D

Bats, Mummies, Olympics, oh my!

Yep. It' s summer. Time for summer blockbusters. I've told you before that I'm a sucker for a summer blockbuster. You know the kind I mean: non-stop action, mind-boggling special effects, plot--well, plot optional. I can't help it. I don't know but that it's part ritual...something to do with going into a cold theatre on a hot day and totally suspending disbelief for a few hours of mindless fun. (Sidebar: they keep theatres so absolutely cold that I always have to have a sweater with me so I don't freeze completely!)

This year's selection includes the latest Batman and the latest in the Mummy series. We've been to both over the past two weekends. (Sidebar #2: As our home theatre system has improved we've gotten to the point that there are very few movies we'll go see in the theatre as opposed to waiting for it to come out on [now] Blu-Ray. I mean, really, there aren't crying babies or talking teenagers at our house, we can rewind when we miss some dialogue or pause for snacks or facility breaks.) Let's see, where was I? Oh, yes, movie reviews. Or commentary, as I won't go into detail. I'll just say that both LoML and I enjoyed both movies. I thought Dark Knight was very dark, but very well done. I found it somewhat difficult to watch Heath Ledger's performance without wondering how much that character got into his head.

The latest Mummy movie was much more light-hearted. I enjoy a good mix of action and comic relief. The only drawback to me was the lack of Rachel Weisz. I don't like when sequels use different actors to play the same character...I just have a really hard time believing the new actor. Oh well. I still enjoyed the flick.

The Olympics. I love the summer Olympics. With the coverage being broadcast on the internet I can finally see more of the events that I want to see most...like the equestrian events! I've already watched more of the dressage than I've ever seen in years previous. And Michael Phelps?! How great is it to watch him smash records???

Okay, I may discuss more later, but I have to run for now....

Christian the Lion

Okay, ready for a really sweet story? It's not even new news...but I really loved this story and wanted to share it. "The Today Show" ran this piece recently and a coworker told me about it. It's the story of two men who raised a lion cub in London in the late '60's. When he got too big they had him reintroduced into the wild through George Adamson (he and his wife, Joy, were the real people behind the movie "Born Free"--remember that one?). There's a video circulating on youtube of the guys' reunion with Christian (the Lion) one year after he was reintroduced into the wild. I recommend checking out The Today Show's coverage first: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25929574/ Then you can go to youtube...there are a number of different videos of the whole thing. I recommend this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FN9xgUovIbA Let me know what you think. Oh, and if you're as big a softie as I am, have your kleenex handy when you view it!

Cowboy Up!

Last weekend we went to a rodeo. It was my first rodeo and I had a blast. Made me want to jump on my horse and ride like the wind. :D

To me there was something so All-American about the whole thing. The sights, sounds, heck even the smells were thrilling.

The bulls? There were some huge ones! I really should have put some people in this shot to give you some perspective, but trust me--he was biiiiggg!

Pre-show we wandered around and checked everything out. A lot of bulls were penned together in small groups. We saw a bit of pawing, snorting and posturing going on. Some of them were decidedly grumpy.
After a little while I put the camera away and just enjoyed the show. My little Kodak point-and-shoot does pretty good with action shots, but is not well-equipped to handle this kind of lighting (it was dark with spotlights all around the perimeter).

I did really like this shot.

Okay, I admit I have a problem...even more sunsets

Back with New Friends

I'm back! Sorry for the temporary hiatus...it's been wild around here! Anyway, will try to get back to some regular posting. Having said that, this post will still be fairly short as I have little time this morning. I thought I would introduce you to two of my newest friends. Here's Mya:
Isn't she precious? She just found her forever home, having been adopted from a shelter by a friend. She's an AmStaff (American Staffordshire Terrier). We'll discuss the breed more soon. Feel free to kick off the discussion with your thoughts (she said, readily opening that can of worms!).
Just look at that face!

Anyway, from one extreme to the other....here's Ollie:
Isn't he something? Ollie's a *big* puppy! Okay, so because my blog is more about the critters than the people, I cut Ollie's owner out of the shot. The only problem with that is that you lose perspective on just how big he is. He currently weighs in around 150 pounds...and he's still growing. In case you don't know, he's a Great Dane. Yes, his ears are natural, not cut. I approve. (We can discuss that if you want.) And also, he does have a tail...he's just sitting on it. ;D
More soon. Hope your July has been going well.

Sunset Obsession

I'll admit it. I can't stop taking pictures of the sunset. But really, if you had sunsets like this would you stop shooting them? I just pull the Jeep over on the way home and there it is!
What do you think of special effects? Like it better, or not so much?
The sun-tinged clouds were amazing last night.