Anton Chico

Any self-respecting gathering of more than one chihuahua should have an Anton Chico. We don't---but hopefully the humans will add one soon!!!!

The story of Anton Chico is one that brings tears of pride to those of our proud canine race. It isn't enough that chihuahuas defeated Aztec slavers and those who sacrificed dogs to Quetzalcoatl. These valiant dogs moved north into New Mexico and secured the area near the Manzano mountains for the humans who followed them. Part of that was enabling the fortress of Don Salvador Tapia to colonize the area he named after the chihuahua who led him there---yes, Anton Chico was that dog. He led the people who repelled the Texans seeking to claim the land as part of their state which they believed should encompass the entire watershed of the Rio Grande. Were it not for this brave chihuahua, Albuquerque might be in Texas :-( Then what?????

So long live Anton Chico, noblest of the small dogs!!!! And this is the reason all families with multiple chihuahuas must get one named Anton (or Antonia--we are not misogynists) Chico!!!!

A true testament, written as inspired by the verbal history of chihuahuas by Bertequila, midshipman and chronicler of the Pirate Dogs.

Making of a Birthday Card 2009

Our daughter's birthday is in September. This year, the Pirate Dogs decided to send their sister a card. O M G!!!!! The task would try the patience of the saints.

First, you assemble the crew:

Come here, 'Roid!!!

Then get them in position:

Please stay, guys!?!?!

Can't do a card without a message, right? Try that with a chewy chihuahua...

Bertequila, please.....

Now, Bertie, leave it alone.

Now, a few takes----------

Bertie's leaving and what's with Leny's expression??

Nice sitting but could you look any weirder???

Looks like Bertequila's leaving again

Gee, guys, would you sort of look like you're having fun??

Finally, they get down to business............

Happy Birthday to our sister Dee!!!!

Course they only do it for the rewards.......NOT!!!!!!

Good job, guys!!!

Chihuahuas love to get on their hind legs--makes 'em feel tall like big dogs..

And all that was done so we could be late with this:

The Pirate Dogs love you and we're sorry this was so late!!!!!!!

LOL

(Notice the absence of any felines---the Klingon Kats know to make themselves scarce when this crew is being made to perform....)

Short Week

Last week marked the traditional end of summer--Labor Day. This week usually seems very packed with events for such a short-work week. It's the traditional back-to-school week; the time to prepare for the harvest and start the process of stocking up for winter; car sales; and that last summer week-end of irresponsibility.

This year the week seemed even more densely populated with events.

Tuesday had the presidential brainwashing of America's youth with socialist clap-trap. Horror must abide at the very thought of encouraging these impressionable minds to endeavor to fulfill their potential. Far better for our democracy that the next generation be dull and easily swayed by the demagoguery coming from the speakers of their radios and televisions. Just imagine what, say, Rush Limbaugh's or Fox News channel's ratings would be if their listeners or viewers were capable of critical thinking or schooled in the intricacies of logical debate. No wonder the hue and cry to prevent the president from addressing the nation's students about their opportunities if they stay in school, eschew gangs and drugs, and learn to think and evaluate issues and arguments.

This week, the Economist had two articles of note. First is the Lexington column that basically called health care reform a non-starter because American are afraid of rational public discussions about death. Second was an article titled "The nanny state" that addresses the issue of public spending on child well-being and how it misses the mark more often than not. The US is pretty much in the bottom half of OECD countries when it comes to effective use of public spending on childhood well being. It's tragic that we rank 24th of 30 countries in the health and safety of our children.

Wednesday brought the much awaited address to Congress on health care reform. Except that wasn't the topic. Health insurance reform was and it really looks like that's all we'll get. And I feel betrayed. I have very good health insurance through my employer. But if I retire before Medicare kicks in, which I hope to do, I need to feel anxious about the cost of any coverage. Basic health insurance will cost me about 5X what I presently pay per month!!! And like many retirees, my income will be less than it is at present. Doesn't take a genius to see this is not a good outcome. So while I appreciate the efforts of congress and the administration to attempt insurance reform, that's sort of like the cart before the horse. What is needed is health CARE reform. Health care providers should be paid for results, not number of tests prescribed. Certain screenings like HPV, mammograms, colonoscopies, cholesterol screening, prostate screens, should be, if not free, than at least at a minimal cost. Prevention and wellness are the keys to cutting medical costs and there is little beyond platitudes coming from congress to address these issues.

Last time I looked, the candidate who got the majority in the electoral college becomes president. Of all of the United States. So whether one might consider him a liar, a socialist, a reactionary, etc, he is still the president. Nixon was---lots of truth there, right?? LBJ was, another paragon of virtue. Bill Clinton---what can I say, Monica?? "W"--as in "Weapons of mass destruction"---even more truth telling. So I guess my comment to all those who say the current person residing at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is "not my president" is to go where your type president lives---maybe Russia, with Medvedev and Putin; or France with Sarkozy; or Zimbabwe with Mugabe?? I was prepared to go to Canada rather than serve under Johnson in Viet-Nam. I guess I'd say to you the same thing I heard back then---America, love it or leave it.

Lastly, Bertequila spent Tuesday night thru Thursday morning at the vet. Time to get him neutered. But even though he now has no balls, he's still got more cojones than the screamers and bloviators.

A "Sharper" P.o.V.

Things have been frantically slow this summer. It seemed that for a while several times a day we Pirate Dogs were bundled into the car and shuttled off to Bucksnort and the cousins because some stranger wanted to see our house. (Very unusual odors awaited and excited us whenever we returned home.) It was so frequent that our beloved CSS Nargle was moved over there!! That made it very difficult to improve our phaser marksmanship on the Klingon Kats....

But there have been no offers on the house despite the showing activity. Our mom is frustrated and gets exceedingly grumpy with each episode of frantic picking-up and hauling us off to Auntie's. I was listening to our parents talking the other night about some guy who's supposed to be a fighter pilot that loves the house and wants us moved in three weeks---but the bozo hasn't made an offer and needs his daddy to see it first!!!! If he'd made an offer when he first saw it, we'd be moving out by now. Of course Mom got all excited and now there's boxes in the dining room full of stuff we don't use much---- They said he looked again Friday with his daddy and now the Realtors won't call and tell us what's up!!! Seem the real estate market here only operates Monday thru Friday. What a way to do business......

Then there's the midshipman----Seems Bertequila has sensitive underarms. He got some rash on his left arm and kept licking and niggling to make it worse. When Mom tried to assuage his suffering with aloe the dweeb licked it off. So Mom raided the stuffed animal collection and (would you believe???) found a sweater on a stuffed penguin that fit the midshipman!!!! With his garment on, Bert can't lick the area and the meds stay on the sore spot. So now Bert's arm is healing. That sweater is getting a little tacky though. Hope Mom knits him a new one soon. That chihuahua isn't olfactorially pleasant at the best of times........

But I got my dad all weekend so life's good and the bone turks are flowing.

Leny the Sharprador

First Mate of the CSS Nargle

AAAAAHHH!!!!

Today is one of the best days in Clovis. Even though we were marooned at Bucksnort's with our cousins Seymour and Esmerelda, the olfactory pleasures we experienced when our parents picked us up were so wonderful. That delectable smell when we bundled into the car--like something roasted but not burned; something spicy and maybe wonderfully hot....And when we entered the house, it was all but overpowering, in a deliciously sensual way-----They had been to the Farmer's Market and gotten our supply of green chiles!!!!!!!!! If you've never smelt the delightful aroma of fresh roasted green chiles, we can only pity you. You haven't even made it up to a dog's life.......

The Pirate Dogs---'Roid, Leny, Weetz, and Bertequila

Channel 2

It's funny how the Pirate Dogs channel people and events. A previous entry on this blog detailed how Weetzie channels my late mother-in-law. Now we are at July 7 2009. It's Ringo's 69th birthday. All day coverage of Michael Jackson's memorial. The day after the death of Robert S. McNamara, Secretary of Defense during the VietNam war under JFK and LBJ. Farrah's demise has sort of been lost in the shuffle.

But the Pirate Dogs are reacting.

Ringo always had a sort of hang-dog look about him:

But that's nothing compared to Leny in a pensive mood:

Then there's Emma. This is the Captain but you'd never find a dog with a sweeter disposition. She can just be nice, like I've heard Farrah was. And she even had big hair from the groomer:

Now Weetzie already channels my mother-in-law, and she is certainly strange---as in Robert Strange McNamara---leave it to Weets to do the double play:

But the prize for channeling goes to Bertequila----this dog doesn't have a good bone in his body--HE IS BAD, like MJ's album

of the same name:

And I apologize for none of this. It's unfortunate some of these people have gone on to their reward. R.I.P.

And as for Ringo, Happy 69th!!!!!!!!!!!