Dear Friends, all who have come to my barkday party, who have sent their barkday wishes, posted them on your blogs and helped me out with the drinks, the food, the entertainment and the invitations - Sassy-cat, Momo-dog, Lacylulu, so many, too many to list here; I will get to all of you to thank you each and every one in good time - (which we dogs have plenty of): Thank you one and all! I had so much fun the first two days that I slept through Saturday - I'm glad everyone was still enjoying themselves, though, thanks to the exciting guests!
This party has been such an enjoyable success, such fun and so entertaining to so many cyber-friends, but it will continue through the night tonight, and, though I have limited computer resources on weekends, I have several dolphins who will pull floats back to North America, Asia and Europe in the morning, and a large hot-air balloon for those who prefer not to undertake a water voyage! The rest can float home on the champagne bubbles!
Please take home with you a big bag of treats, and a heart-full of all of my puppy love and best wishes for a happy holiday, a very merry Christmas, and a beautiful New Year! I have posted below a song that was a Christmas favourite of me and my brother Higgins, may he rest peacefully in the Great Forest Beyond. Also, a Christmas photo from the CCSI group of me, Momo-dog and Ruis (I think that is Ruis - who I believe is also credited with the artwork?) getting into the Christmas spirit.
It gives an old dog such a warm and furry feeling inside to have so many furriends and party animals stopping by to wish me a happy barkday and sniff around at my blog party (my human had a lot of fun putting it together, and I must admit to being quite impressed, as she is not as computer-savvy as I am!) It might take a while for me to get around to each of your blogs, but I am on my way now!
Thank you all so much for stopping by, for leaving your cards and messages, and most of all, for sharing your cyberspace with me these last seven months! All of my best wishes to your and your humans for all of your birthdays to come, and may we all enjoy a happier, furrier world in cyberspace and beyond, for many more months and years!
By all means, the party is not over yet, especially as I know it is hard for everyone to get onto the computer when the humans are busy preparing for Christmas in these hectic penultimate days, so please browse around - the bar is still open and the treats are still flowing - and the woods beckon to all of you intrepid animal explorers!
I would like to make one small announcement: Sassy cat has found this gentleman at the party - does anyone know this cat? If so, please accompany him to the bar, for, I am told, he is thirsty!
This is a picture of the cake that Momo-cat and SS sent over for me; mmmmmmmmud cake! (My human would only let me smell it!)
Hello Everyone and many thanks for coming to my blog on my fourteenth birthday! Please stick around and have a browse, and of course come to the comment page to leave a birthday message and perhaps meet a friend or two - we'll see how many furry- and feathered creatures join in!
As you might know, I am 14 today, the 20th of December, and that's about 75 in dog years, so it is a Diamond Jubilee for me - and, let's be quite candid, at this age you must make the most of your birthdays because you never know if you'll make it to the next one!
Fourteen years ago today I was born in Texas. I then spent the next few years with my owner, travelling the Western U.S. and Europe, and I acquired a brother, Higgins, same parents, 2 litters later, who we lost in May. After living it up in Berlin for several years, we came to Sydney, where we are now. In my twilight years I have lost a few puppy friends, but have gained a multitude of new animal friends through my blog and the internet, and it has enriched my doggy life, and given my human more joy out of these slower, golden years with me, and for that we are grateful to everyone who has been so kind to us in the animal blogging world!
What's a party without entertainment or presents? Following, some amusements for the jubilee:
First off, a special message from five corgis called Emma, Linnet, Monty, Willow and Holly; and four 'dorgis' (corgis crossed with a dachshund) called Cider, Berry, Vulcan and Candy; five cocker spaniels called Bisto, Oxo, Flash, Spick and Span - who are they? Her Majesty's beloved pets, of course, and, whilst those humans reaching 100 years of age are congratulated by a note from the Queen, what dog could reach 75 without a similar such note from the royal canine contingent? (My human would like to take this opportunity to list a few of the Queen's 36 animal patronages and charities: Animal Health Trust Provides specialist veterinary services for dogs, cats and horses. The British Horse Society Works to promote horse welfare, horse and rider safety, and access for riders in the UK. The Dogs' Home Battersea Operates three centres caring for lost and abandoned dogs and cats. Dogs Trust Dog welfare charity, managing homes for unwanted dogs and running dog clincs. Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) Works to promote kindness and prevent cruelty to animals. They have kindly sent us some sheep to play with - thank you!
How about drinks and food - let's not forget the food!!! Dog chocolate would be nice, and a big cake with salmon, kangaroo, lamb and all of those special crunchy crackly beef straps. Let's see what we can manage...mmmm biscuits, pupcakes and doggie pies - yum! (don't worry, cats, I have also seen to it that the chef prepares a special fish-lizard-catnip surprise pastry!)
Now for the first piece of entertainment, a hamster group direct from the UK, The Fast and The Furriest! These guys have been preparing this for months! (I know that this is something we all can appreciate!) And for the race - place your bets! - I'm going for Fernando!
But what about dancing, I hear from the crowd at the bar (where my human has probably spent much of the party). Even the human-like chimps are getting in on the action! Well, we'll start off slowly, because I don't move as quickly as I used to, with a performance by Lance Link & the Evolution Revolution!!!
and, of course, the song we've all been waiting for, and the question everyone's going to be asking tomorrow, from the sunny Caribbean:
I know that a party's not a party unless there's some indiscreet sniffing going on somewhere - well, here's the perfect spot. Animals love to romp and sniff and explore, so take a look at these beautiful, cool and exciting, perhaps peaceful places to run, play and have an animal adventure!
...conjures up some beautiful things in the imagination of an old dog!
And now, to heat things up, a little reminiscence of techno- Berlin from, of all places, Madagascar: Original King Julian - I know all those dancing animals know how to party!
A little something provided for those who need it:
and a little something I found hopping around - yes, you may chase them, just this once....
No birthday party is complete without the Birthday Cake - dig in!
...and now for the grand finale, fireworks from Japan, sent over for my Diamond Jubilee!
Thank you all very much for sharing this, my fourteenth barkday with me and my human. Do come to the comment page and share some barks, sniffs, purrs and licks with all of our fur- and feathered friends, and when you go, take with you all of my best wishes for a warm place to lie, humans to love and who love you, meadows in which to play, and delicious morsels to chew;
Goodnight my Friends, and Happy Holidays, one and all!
When last we left Berlin, we were snooping around the cafes and markets along the Hohenzollerndamm. Well, IF we were to go around the corner of Roseneck and travel north down the street for about ten minutes at a good trot, we would certainly come to the social area of the West, Kurfürstendamm, and we would see the Kaiser Friedrich Denkmal Kirche with its bombed-out ruin next to the new part, we would see the Cafe Kranzler, a three-story colourful place to sit and watch the city, which, my human was told, now only occupies the top floor, a ghost of its former grandeur. We would see the Zoo train station, the main one of the West, and further along, the Tiergarten and the avenue that runs along the northern part of it from Charlottenburg Palace and its Egyptian Museum, the old Embassy section, under the Quadriga on Pariser Platz, along Unter den Linden, the outdoor meeting place of old pre-war Berlin, past the national Opera, the island on the Havel supporting the Pergamon Museum, the site of the old City Palace, destroyed during the war and not rebuilt, and to the Gendarmenmarkt. Yes, friends, we would see all of that, IF we were to go North from Roseneck.
It is much more interesting for us animals, however, to go South-East! We may walk along the avenue to the Platz der Wilden Eber - the Wild Boar! This is a lovely little meadow in which to romp and play, and my brother, may he rest peacefully in the Great Forest Beyond, and I used to run here often with our human after an afternoon shopping and at the cafe. Further along are many buildings erected after the war to house the university, effectively professors and students escaping the Soviet blockade, now the Freie-Universität. My human spent many days there, studying and working for some offices of the European Commission. There are plenty of walks and rivulets and gardens to explore, and lots of little playful red squirrels, but be careful, they are cheeky! There are also the Dahlem museums that house much of the Eastern collections from China, Japan and the South Pacific - they would never let me in there.
Travelling East, we will come to the Western section of the vast Grunewald, and through it to the Wannsee, a beautiful lake-like bay of the river Havel that winds its way through Berlin. My human spent hours and hours out there on sailboats and my brother and I used to play on the banks. Sometimes, on hot summer days, we would take a ferry to the Eastern shore, the old British sector, near the British airfield at Gatow that now houses rows and rows of dilapidated MiGs and Hueys, etc., and we would have picnics on the beach. I would go into the water up to my chest, looking at boats and things in the water, and run about playfully. They were such happy days! You see, there is so much to see in Berlin, so much culture and colour that comes out of its rhythm, its resilient people and its varied and tempestuous long history, and these things in its vibrant atmosphere do not escape the notice of its animals, the pets and wild creatures who call it home! Though I have shown you my favourite parts, I'm certain that my owner has a multitude of her own memories, and stories, and that different avenues and parts of the city would awaken them for her! In my fondest dreams I run, young again, in those happy days in Berlin with my brother and my human, in gardens, forests, leafy avenues and lakeside beaches, meeting new animals and lazing in the sun; this is the wish I have for all of you lovely animals who have come this far with me: may you find your Grunewald one and all!
If I make it to the New Year, we will continue South to Potsdam, where I will show you some more of my favourite haunts!
It has finally stopped raining, but the air is fresh and just a bit chilly - perfect weather to be out sniffing the breeze; not too hot for dogs. I am very happy to lie next to the window and watch the creatures play outside, napping and dreaming...
Before I fall asleep, though, I would like to thank all of you animals for signing my guest book; it makes me feel all warm and squishy!
Much activity out there, I see, in cyberspace. I can tell that you furry friends in the Northern Hemisphere are cozied-up inside! It is summer here, long days, warm weather and, as is usually the case, more human activity out-of-doors and away from home - the parks, the beach, boating on the harbour. It is not bad, but leaves less time for regular cyber-activity. I have been sleeping much more lately, and more often, anyway; long, deep and dreamy slumbers of the golden years. Sometimes my human has to wiggle me to make sure I'm still alive; I think I might have given her a fright a few times, but I do love my long sleeps!
Speaking of things golden, I have been generously awarded a golden rose by Momo, who has helped her family put up a beautiful Christmas tree, looks after her new brother Pinot, is currently entertaining Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth I, stars in CCSI I and II, and, might I add, has a fabulous blog. Thank you, Momo! Following suit, I would like to give one to Momo-cat, with whom I was blogging for months before finding out that all of you were out there in cyberspace waiting to be friends, and with whom I stumbled and discovered all of the essential blogging know-how (and still am!) Also, I would like to give one to Lacy Lulu, a dear dog who has been lovely to us all.
I have finished my shopping and now have the perfect outfit for the CCSI cast party at Hearst Castle tomorrow. I had some trouble fitting into it, and it's the best I could do at a pinch with these testy machines I've got to work with, but here I am. (because of my age, I have decided to go in black-and-white, for effect, and, of course, as Roscoe will tell you, we cannot really see much colour anyway!)
The last issue I would like to bring up this evening is ANIMAL TESTING. Yes, the big, bad words, you heard correctly. My humans are against it, and my owner does all of this research all the time to make certain her beauty products have not been tested on critters and that the eggs she buys are from free-roaming chickens. Well, that's all well and good, but I have really been after her because there are some products that I really wouldn't mind testing, in fact, if you have any of these products, or would be so kind as to write to the manufacturers of these products, please let me test them: chocolate - any kind, any kind of dried beef snack, chips, biscuits, canned fish, roast chicken, lamb shanks, cold cuts/small goods, and let's not forget those cook-at-home pizzas!
I always feel a bit goofy on Fridays - I think it must be the vibes I get from the humans, who always seem to have a slight madness beneath the surface on Fridays; and my humans are away most of the day, so I think I'll put on a disguise and scare the lorikeets!
As I slowly make my way around the blogs and animal websites, it came to my attention this week that FurryCharlie had disappeared from DWB. Well, this was irritating, even for a dog, so I had my owner contact the webmaster right away, and a kind bloke named Greg has helped us get our account going again! Wags to him and his efforts - cheers!
(I've also had a post featured in an Animatorial by the nice critters at Animal Internet, so stop by and check it out!)
Addendum for the day in anticipation of the next installment of CCSI!: A special screening of the 1948 Academy Award Winning (I kid you not) film, Bill and Coo. (be sure to select the "Bill and Coo" bar beneath the screen) This short film is well worth a look, not the least because it stars not only birds, but dogs, cats, squirrels, guinea pigs, a baby alligator, and many others, and is dedicated to us - pets! - and I dedicate this screening to my friends and colleagues of the CCSI set! Enjoy!
It is still rainy, and I am so glad that the thunder has passed by; I don't much like thunderstorms, especially when my humans are away. I had a little upchuck yesterday - my human was not very happy about it, but I feel a little better now. In fact, I think I'll have a look to see what's in the old dog dish....
Oh, and don't worry - there will be more Berlin - we're just enjoying the cafes along the Hohenzollerndamm right now (and I have to get my human into the mood; remembering Berlin always makes her melancholy)
Another rainy day - the days are long now. I turned down the chicken bits my human gave me yesterday, and have been off my feed a little. I hope I'm not getting set for the big chukka like my brother did - I would like to survive to see my diamond jubilee at any rate. Sorry or the sparse posting, but an old dog needs to sleep..... I'll dream happy dream, my friends, and post again when I awake with the knowledge that you will all be there in cyberspace for me to talk to and to read what all of you are doing! (I'd better rest up, too, what with my demanding part in CCSI II!)
