Dogs, Sheep, Rain

Not my dogs, however.

We went to watch the real dogs at the Zamora SDT yesterday. The weather was a steady 2 minute rotation of sun, clouds, rain. The constantly shifting clouds coupled with different controls on the new cam led to a lot of effed up exposures, but what ev', you get the drift...

This Is San Jose, Right?

Then where's my nice California weather? Look what we got today? Frickin' hail. Hail!At least I had my new cam delivered to work so I was able to catch the weirdness.

New cam! Woot!

Same speed, little smoother.

I still have the same timing issues, only now with more pixels!

I'm not sure what the chip difference is, but it makes Bella look so Brown.And Kate soooo white!I know there's the whole in-camera touch up business, but I had no idea it would actually wash my dogs!
There are, however, some things that no technology can fix.

Cross your fingers that we get a little break in the rain this weekend!

A Moment Of Silence

Please join me. Put your cell phones down. Let go of your Starbucks. Bow your heads. Stop talking.

*silence*

....

*blink, blink*

We done?

Good.

I broke my @#$%^&* camera!!!!!

The only bag I have that holds all my lenses is a Slingshot. For those not in the know, this is a faux backpack with only one strap. You are supposed to be able to slide the bag around the front of you for easy access to your gear without having to take the backpack off. This means that the opening to the camera compartment is on the side of the bag. I took the camera out yesterday to shoot some birds in the back yard. I didn't close the flap all the way. I later sling the bag over my shoulder in prep for a DP trip and the camera flew out onto the hardwood floor.

Copious amounts of swearing ensued.

Dropping the body is bad enough, but it happened to be attached to my 80-200mm f/2.8 lens at the time. The lens looks OK, but of course, I won't know until I throw it on a working body. Cross your fingers!

Over the past few weeks I had been struggling with what to do with my tax refund. I could be responsible in this unstable and scary economic situation or I could blow it on a new camera that I don't really need. I decided to save.

Until yesterday.

So, dear readers and fellows bloggers, we are out of commission until Friday when new, shiny cam joins the family.

Booooo.

In the mean time, I give you...

Bella shitting in the ocean.

What Makes *Me* Rotten

Sheena at "Three Woofs And A Woo" has tagged us for some laundry airing. So be it!

Five Things I Laugh At, But Shouldn't

1. Kate's face when I tease her with food.

Now, I know I shouldn't tease her. Kate's mere presence is often entertaining enough, but I just can't help myself. She tries soo hard to do the right thing. The stress of trying to control herself does, indeed, brighten my day. Should this blog suddenly stop getting updated you will know why. It's always those introverted, insecure, slightly awkward people who end up hacking up their neighbors with a screwdriver, right?

2. Kate Hates Bouncy Dogs

She truly does and sees it as her life's mission to rid the world of rude dogs. Well, maybe not the "world." Maybe just a 10 foot radius centered on her face. To know Kate is to know that having feelings of anger or irritation are completely unnatural. Seeing Kate like this is funny in the same way as it would be to watch Big Bird beat the shit out of somebody.

3. Allowing Bella To Beg

My father will probably cringe when he reads this. Dogs have never been allowed to beg at our house. I did keep that tradition going up until about a year ago. She is just so creative and funny when she does it. I can't help myself. She cannot stand food being left uneaten. If she could talk, she would launch herself into a diatribe about the starving children in Africa and how self-centered and ungrateful we are for not cleaning our plates.

It's starts with a bit of whining

"Stray food! There is stray food!!"

When that doesn't work, she moves to the psychic powers trick

"You will tell me to Get It, You will tell me to Get It"

Followed by the nodding in the general direction of the goods.

"Psst"

This is when I ask her to show me what she wants. Which she does with a nose touch. How can I tell that pathetic face to knock it off?

"Fee? Ifs wite vere" 4. Aim For The Dog

If you have a soft enough toy, you should totally try this at home. Dogs that love to fetch are used to the ball going over their head. Try whipping the ball just past them at eye level. Go on. Try it. Funny as hell.

5. Kate And Solid Objects

This one, I cannot photograph. You'll just have to believe me. Setting this up to shoot would truly make me a bad owner. Kate runs into things. Like, a lot. Take her outside. Close the slider behind you. Hear her slam into the glass as she tries to get back in.

Even though the dog door is in same slider.

Throwing a toy in the house? Must make sure she is clear of walls because she will take out some drywall.

Same with fences. As I have said before, Kate is either at 0 or at 90. Not much in between. She will run after the ball and realize about 4 feet from the fence that she is 4 feet from the fence. She will swing her body sideways and bounce off it trampoline style and land on her feet.

What can I say? There is a reason we call her "Short Bus"

And, to spread the love, we are now tagging Mary at "The Dogfathers" to do the same.

We want more Carmela! :-)

Take No For An Answer

Today was Kate's "One Of Those Days." I don't know what it is about her, but if anyone is getting pestered at the dog park, it's her. Invisible Kick Me sign, perhaps.

I don't know what's funnier in these pics... Kate trying to be bitchy or Bella's complete lack of concern for anything but the ball.

It started out with Snowflake. Not the dogs name, but that's what I call her. I think Kate is inherently suspicious of dogs that are that clean.

Note the bottom half of Kate's gaping maw and Bella trying to find the ball in the sea of legs. Way to help your sister out, Bell.

We had an epidemic of annoying puppies

Schooling in three...two...

...one
Is he still there? Oh My God, are you for real?When she has been sufficiently annoyed, she spends her time concerned only about what's behind her

Don't make me...Have To Drop This Ball...

AND KICK YOUR ASS

Then we got lucky. It stated raining. Everyone left. I got my little wienie dog back.

How Do You Watch TV?