Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Save the Black Dogs

While at the allergy doctor I read a letter in People magazine about this organization:

When Tamara Delaney of Woodville, Wis., volunteered to find a home for a black Labrador Retriever named Jake last year, she had no idea what she was up against. Jake, cared for by a rescue group, had already waited nearly three years for a new home. And he would wait eight more months as Delaney tried to find someone to take in the big Lab.

It didn’t matter much that Jake was a sociable dog and in perfect health. Jake’s problem wasn’t his temperament—it was the color of his coat. Jake bore the stigma of the “BBD,” an acronym used to refer to big black dogs, who are frequently passed over for flashier, prettier dogs and wind up, like Jake, waiting for years to be adopted.

“Nobody wants a black-coated dog,” rescue workers told Delaney as she tried without success to find a home for Jake. And when Delaney turned to the Internet, she found that shelters across the country were overflowing with black-coated mutts.


From "Basic Black" in Bark Magazine

This is especially sad for us since our doggie furkid, Sarabi, is a black shelter dog. She is the sweetest, most gentle soul and we can't imagine life without her. She sleeps next to us, she gives us kisses if someone is crying, she guards our house from the mailman (thankfully he's very understanding) and puts her head in your lap when she's begging at the table. She's AMAZING with little children - she tolerates them touching and slapping her! She wants to always be with us -- it can be frustrating when you're trying to clean or pack or just move around the house -- but she means well.

Adopt a black shelter dog!

Link: Black Dog Syndrome

Sunday, June 17, 2007

Sneeeaky Cat

From http://georgesf.com/

We know that Perl is the smart one, but we've never actually seen her open a jar like this kitty. Quite impressive!

Kitty Computer Work



This is what happens when Java flops on the keyboard.

P.S. We are such sluggards when it comes to posting ... gotta get better about that.

Saturday, May 19, 2007

Nora, The piano-playing cat

Wow ... this is quite impressive:



http://www.ravenswingstudio.com/

Friday, May 4, 2007

Logitech Harmony Universal Remotes

We've the Harmony 880 remote for a few weeks now and I must rave about how much I love it. I always wondered why we were stuck with "universal" remotes that couldn't learn and that were limited by the number of buttons they had on the device. The Harmony line of remotes from Logitech range from B&W displays to color displays. The 880 is what I would consider mid grade and the price point at $200 isn't the cheapest..., but it is GREAT. It not only can control my Dish Network HD PVR, but my DVD player, Panasonic Plasma TV and Harmon Kardon receiver. Now most remotes can control the various devices, but I even get the special "Dish" buttons on my remote. Anything that a hard button wasn't present for I can configure into one of the "soft" keys available from the LCD display on the remote. Very very nice.. Programming the remote is easy as pie.. plugs into your computer via USB and you use an application that is connected to Logitech's website to download the latest programming codes... I have buttons configured such as "Watch Dish" which turns on the TV, sets the right video input, turns on my receiver and selects the right audio input.. all with 1 press.. volume controls the receiver while channel controls control the Dish Network receiver...I am most impressed. The remote also has a learning instruction, which I haven't had to use yet.. read more about the remotes at Logitech's site.. I'm hoping more people buy them to drive the price down...this is one universal remote finally done right.

Harmony Remotes on Logitech Website

Friday, April 6, 2007

Are you there God? It's me, Perl


P1030400, originally uploaded by oheso.

Can you get this thing off me??!? The Baby hates hates hates the cone. But she's on the mend (Thank God!) and has learned to accept food from our hands (instead of only from the bowl). If the food falls into the cone she gets really frustrated and starts growling ... quite entertaining if it wasn't so pathetic!

Friday, March 30, 2007

Photos from Flag Tour 2007

If you'd like to see all the photos from the tour you can check them out here.