Lost Funk Photos

While taking photos of the Panda hat, I realized I had a few photos of the Funk that never made it to the blog. How can this be?! He hasn't had a photo post since June 7th! I KNOW! Poor thing will start to feel unloved.

Here he is, a few weeks back, pulling the stuffing out of his Tuff Toy lobster. He'd already pulled just as much stuffing out about 3 or 4 times prior to this so I have no idea just how much stuffing is in that sucker! Because there's still a bit left in the body even now. Crazy.



And here he is basking in his cloud of fun:



Quigley came over a few days ago while my parents attended a play and the puppies just get sooooo excited when Robert comes home. They bombard him as soon as he walks in the door; here, they actually let him change and sit down before literally dog piling on him.



It's always fun when Quigley comes over. He adds just that little extra pep to the house. :o)

Movie Morsels 61: New DH Trailer!

The first official trailer (for parts 1 and 2!) went online at 4 PM PST but I was away from a computer. Now I'm here and I'm posting the new AWESOME trailer ASAP. Did I mention it's awesome? 'Cause it is. AWE.some.

The Panda Hat

This really and truly has nothing to do with anything but Robert looks so darn cute I had to share. We went to the McCauleys' on Father's Day proper to celebrate the day and, while there, Maria busted out her Panda hat. Apparently, if you are a fan of baseball and of the Giants in particular, you'd know that Panda is the nickname of Pablo Sandoval, the Giants' third baseman/first baseman/catcher. (I'm sure he's one of these more than the other two but Robert's not here right now and I really don't care enough to check. Sorry!) The dude is fat and funny so I guess he's like Po (from Kung Fu Panda) or something, I don't know. I really like Po and I don't see any resemblance, physical or otherwise, to the tubby baseball player but whatever. I guess I just don't get it. Anyhoo, his nickname is indeed Panda and I guess he's a popular enough player to warrant his own hat. And here it is:

Me likes! So I tried it on.
I wouldn't say it's uber-flattering on all head types but I hear it does keep you nice and toasty during cold games.

Plus, it freaked Garfunkel out so that was a bonus. :o) Mean, I know, but also fun. What can I say? I'm just a little bit evil.

TV Tidbits 92: Captain Phil's Death

Robert and I have watched Deadliest Catch since it began and I've posted a few things here and there on the show over the years. This season (season 6) is probably 2/3 finished but the episode I was long dreading aired last week - the episode where Captain Phil has his (ultimately fatal) stroke. I almost felt like if I didn't watch it, it wouldn't happen. (Not really, of course, but you know what I mean. It's like whenever you watch Ghost, you just tell Sam to give the dude the wallet and make a run for it. It's not worth it, man! Just give him the wallet!!! Again, I'm sure you know what I mean.) Anyhoodle, I did watch and it did happen and, as it turns out, the remaining 6 episodes of the season will all be Phil-centric. Here's a little blurb from this week's issue of Entertainment Weekly:

Overwhelmed by the outpouring of sympathy from fans, the Discovery Channel will devote the remaining six episode of DC to the passing of Phil Harris, the captain of the crab boat Cornelia Marie who died February 9 after suffering a stroke. The depiction of his illness and death began June 22 and will culminate with the show's season finale on July 27. "This is one of the harder stories in our history," says Discovery president Clark Bunting. "It's the full arc of Phil's life - not just what happened to Phil and the boys, but also the rest of the fleet."

You can read a more in-depth Q&A with Bunting here. And you can read a NY Times article about airing Capt. Phil's death here. Pretty interesting stuff, I think. And, while Captain Phil's early death was, perhaps, sadly predictable*, I don't think his stupid son, Jake, being a massive pain in the ass all season long and then Phil discovering Jake been stealing his dad's prescription pain meds right before he keeled over is a coincidence. Normally I'd feel guilty about putting some of the blame on one person but (1) I'm not too worried Jake Harris reads my blog; (2) the dude's drunk or high the majority of the time so even if he does, he won't remember it; and (3) I really, really, really, really hate Jake. He's just sort of worthless all-around. So there! Suck it, Jake!

I will miss Captain Phil. He was one of my favorites on the show. :o(



* Here's a quote from one of my earlier DC posts: "Captain Phil is pretty good, too, though - he is a funny guy and very animated. He's much more palatable since his haircut... and, apparently, he's single! ;o) (Though, I've never seen a human being smoke as much as he does, so you may need to act fast, ladies...)" Bummer.

A Robert Post (Kinda)

Robert sent me this photo on Monday and since he very rarely asks me to blog about anything in particular, I just had to share it with you all. Robert is the official tweet-er for RHI and, as part of the job, he subscribes to other companies' career Twitter pages. It was on Warner Brothers' page that he found this:

The world's coolest golf cart.

Apparently, some lucky WB employee duck gets to tool around Warner Brothers' 110 acre lot in this awesome little Batcart. I love the tires! Sadly, I'm sure not just any ol' WB schlub has the privelege to drive the cart... though I hear it's pretty easy to hotwire a golf cart. It'd be worth it.

Teeny Tiny School Update

Boy, I bet you didn't think I could get any less communicative, eh?! Ha ha! Wrong-o! Take me away from a computer (my preferred mode of communication) and you will never hear from me again. Apparently. Those few I have actually talked to in recent days have been inquiring as to my current school status so I thought I'd take a minute and let you know that not much has changed. You're welcome!

In all seriousness, though, things are pretty much in limbo until mid-July. I took my final on the 15th and am just waiting for my grade; however, since finals week at Foothill doesn't technically end until the 25th, it'll be a bit before my final grade is posted. I'm not too worried, though - I got 94 1/2 on the midterm and 100s on both projects so I'm thinking I did pretty okay on the final and that I'll do just fine in the class. [Yay me! :o) ] Once my final grade does appear, I have to send my Foothill transcript to the vet tech program peeps and then I should hear about whether or not I've been accepted into the program sometime around July 15th. Until then, I'm just plugging along...

Will keep you posted.


Oh, and if you're wondering why I have a photo of a weird owl statue, it's because it's a photo of an actual statue on campus of the Foothill mascot. Don't worry - I won't be changing my handle from anthrobruin to vettechowl anytime soon.

More Memorial Day Pics

Christina took MUCH better photos of the Trouts' Memorial Day festivities and since she just uploaded them all to her flickr account, I went ahead and downloaded'em. (Thanks, Chrissie! Good work with your tripod!) My eyes are actually open in most of these so yay me.



L to R: Christina, me, Robert, Rob, Mrs. Trout, Mr. Trout, Amber, Jim, Mrs. Kidder, Paul, Emily, Mr. Kidder

Funny or Die: Ralph Macchio

I intended to post this back on the 11th but, well, I obviously didn't quite get there. So! Without further ado, here is a very cute ad for a 'documentary' on Ralph Macchio from FunnyorDie.com:

Wax On, F*ck Off with Ralph Macchio from Ralph Macchio

(@ 2:48 is one of my favorite parts!)


And here is a Q&A with Ralph about the video from Entertainment Weekly. He really does seem like a nice guy. I really, really wish they hadn't remade his movie... especially with Will Smith's stupid kid. Gah! Don't get me started.

PPR Reunion '10

This past Saturday was the annual Pound Puppy Rescue reunion get-together and this year it was held in Fremont, at the Niles Community Park. Robert and I kept waffling on whether or not to take Garfunkel because while he is usually good at the dog park with other dogs, he's not so good with people and even less good with rambunctious kids. Plus, since I quit working and his routine has thus been abolished, the Funk has been having a hard time. He doesn't really know what's going on or what's going to happen - am I leaving? am I staying? am I going to abandon him forever? what?!! - and, as such, his behavior of late hasn't been the best. We were still trying to decide what to do about the picnic when Robert took Garfunkel to the dog park Saturday morning. I don't want to get too specific and thus tar and feather poor Funk but let me just say that his outing didn't reassure us that he'd do too well at the PPR function. So we decided to bag it. Then, about and hour-and-a-half into the picnic, my mom called to sort of let me know what was going on (they adopted Quigley from PPR so they took him on over to the shindig to reunite with his family) and to let me know that the one guy from our litter who was supposed to show up hadn't yet done so (great). The phone called stirred up our indecisiveness and Robert and I began hemming and hawing... again... about what to do with the Funk. Ultimately, we decided to run down to the park and catch what little was left of the festivities. We did miss out on a lot of the dogs (and people) but there was still a handful of folks there when we arrived. And while Garfunkel still refused to get into the water, even as he watched other dogs frolic and be merry, I'm happy to report that the rest of his behavior was pretty darn good. (I think hitting the picnic at the end was a wise move on our part.) We didn't get to see Funk's litter mates or foster family but we did get to see Quigley's, and that was nice.

This is Quigley's mama, Gracie

Here's 2 of Quig's 3 brothers, Sammy and Charlie, Gracie and Quigley

Charlie is a big boy - he's about 1 1/2 times as long as Quig or Sammy and about 17 pounds (Quigley weighs about 11 pounds, I think). As you can see, both of Quigley's brothers are all black and Quig is the only puppy who looks like his mom. And, boy, does he! I just love his coloring, especially his little eyebrows. What a cutie. :o)

Gracie with Sammy and Charlie

Here's a 5-week-old litter that was brought to the picnic. SO. CUTE! I love the little pink paws.

I didn't really get any photos of Garfunkel at the picnic because he kept running around like a maniac but here is what he looks like as I sit and type this post:

I'm a sucker for puppy tongues.

Movie Morsels 60: More Deathly Hallows!

I am old so I haven't watched the MTV Movie Awards in quite some time. However, my interest in all things gossip gives me a pretty good idea of what happens each year - usually nothing that's very interesting. But! This year, there was a sneak peek of Deathly Hallows! Yay!! I'm a geek! I'm still about 200 pages away from the end of DH and I can tell I'm sort of dragging it out because I don't really want to finish the series. 'Cause then it's done*. :o(

* As much as I love finishing a good book (or, in this case, series) and finding out how the story ends, I'm always sad that the good story is over. I hate starting new books - you just never know how good it's going to be! I'd rather stay in one that I know I'm enjoying. (Sort of perfectly exemplifies my 'no change is good change' credo, doesn't it?)

You Know the Tag Speaks the Truth

I took a few photos of the Funk yesterday (so that I could pass them along to the lovely woman who made his new name tag) and since he just looks so gosh darned handsome, I decided to post'em.


Can't make out his tag? Here it is: I was actually looking for a tag for Quigley (I wound up buying him this one from the same seller) but as soon as I saw this, I knew I had to buy it for Garfunkel. It is just TOO true. The woman was really sweet and excited that I bought the tag because no one else had yet to buy one. In fact, in perusing her shop just a minute ago, I think she's since quit making them! :o( What a bummer. Everyone who sees Funk's tag thinks it's perfect for him so I'm glad I snagged one when I had the chance!

Later in the day, Garfunkel was despondent that Robert had the nerve to leave our company and use the restroom so he did what he usually does when he's depressed - he buried his head in something. On this particular occasion it was my backpack. Garfunkel just loooooves to show us how sad his life is by burying his head - in pillows, shoes, whatever - when he's unhappy. He's so dramatic, it's hilarious.

Memorial Day @ the Trouts'

Our good friend Christina and her husband Rob made it to CA for the holiday weekend so Robert and I were invited to a BBQ at the Trouts' on Sunday. I had two papers due on Tuesday so I spent Friday and Saturday rolling around on my office floor trying to bribe anyone and everyone to write them for me. No one went for it so I eventually hunkered down and got the papers written. (Yes, I knew about them at the beginning of the quarter. So? What's your point? Maybe I just work better under pressure, did you ever think of that?!) As such, I was able to frolic about on Sunday unfettered by obligations and it was very nice indeed. :o)

The Kidders brought a croquet set over and I think everyone but Robert, Mrs. Trout and I didn't play. I wasn't really feeling it, to be honest, and I didn't really follow the rules, even though they were explained 256 times. (Though, to be fair, I wasn't really paying attention any of those times. I'm rude, not dumb.) From what I gathered, people enjoyed it.


The spread was huge. There were strip steaks, sausages, hot dogs, pulled pork sandwiches, shrimp, potato and cheese casserole, pasta salad, asparagus salad with avocado, green salad (provided by us - hi yo!), strawberries and watermelon with homemade apple pie for dessert. Even I found lots to eat and you know how picky I am.


Chrissie's brother, Jim, and his girlfriend, Amber, enjoying one of the many heat lamps. They were a lifesaver! For me, anyway. I think everyone else was fine but I was cold the entire night. I'm a wuss. (And I am totally making Robert get some heat lamps when we actually have a real yard.)


Emily's mom, Emily, Robert, me, Mrs. Trout, Jim and Amber enjoying the festivities.


Every year when I see a photo of the three of us, I think "Gee, I really need to lose a few pounds before we next get together!" So does not ever happen. But I always think it!

The Trouts are big game-players, so we busted out Cranium and pitted the guys against the girls. The girls were, unfortunately, trounced the last time all of us got together so it was sweet vin-di-cay-shee-own to win this time around!!! Ha ha! Suck it, fellas.


Here Jim is trying to use Rob to act out a curtsy. The guys actually got this one. Kind of annoying.


I believe Mrs. Trout is trying to act out opening gifts here with Christina. We guessed 'wrapping gifts' so we didn't get it. 'Cause the guys are sticklers. But we didn't need any pity points! We still won! Hoo hoo!! (When it was my turn to get up and perform, I had to do it alone and I had to act out lobster, shrimp cocktail and clam strips. Clam strips!!!!! But all three were guessed correctly, though (sadly) not due to my awesome charade skills. Still, is that not impressive? We were good!)



I'm not entirely sure what Robert is doing here - he had to act out the names of three TV shows and I don't know what this corresponds to.

As per usual, we had a great time and appreciated my parents letting the Funk hang at their abode for 8 hours on their holiday... :o)

Coco's Dance-Off

I'm so bummed!!! People in New York got to see Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart at Conan's stop at Radio City Music Hall last night. I like Chris Isaak and all but come ON!!! There's no comparison. Boo.

Oh! Entertainment Weekly has more detailed info - and a longer video - on their site. Check it out.

Nada Surf @ GAMH

Robert and I saw Nada Surf at the Great American Music Hall (just like we did back in September 2008) last Thursday and, once again, we opted for the geezerific reserved dinner seats. Only, unlike last time when we were one of about 6 people total in the reserved seats, this year the place was packed! We were squished in and seated next to each other like sardines, and then people decided it would be awesome to come stand right behind the seated people so we were trapped on all sides. The pros definitely still outweighed the cons (a seat, a meal [petrified as it may be - this year Robert and I both picked the pork chop and holy bejesus was it overcooked! It was like eating a shoe, I'm not kidding. I could barely choke mine down, so we splurged and ordered a Ghirardelli brownie sundae to follow it up. That was nice!], something to do between acts and a super-close restroom is still A-OK in my book) but I wouldn't have minded a wee bit more space so that I didn't emerge from the venue a hunchback. But, you take what you get, right?

We were seated directly above the band (again) and there was only one opening act (Telekinesis) so things were good. The BEST part was that former chimney/current bassist Daniel Lorca must have given up smoking because he lit nary a cigarette the entire set. It. Was. Fantastic! I was dreading coming home with the inevitable sinus issues that follow Nada Surf concerts in teeny, tiny venues but this time I lucked out. (I was so happy I didn't mention it throughout the night, just in case doing so might jinx me. But as soon as the last song ended, Robert and I turned to each other and went "He must've quit smoking!" We were excited. I'm sorry we're sad.)


We were so directly above the band, in fact, that I could read the set lists for both Telekinesis and Nada Surf. I loooooved knowing how many songs I had to sit through before the opening band went away!!! Fabulous.

The crowd was definitely a mix of older and younger folk so Robert and I didn't feel too, too old this time around. (Plus, sitting so close to the band you can really see how old they look. Kind of a bummer.) But both Robert's and my (and the band - the lead singer chatted the guy up at one point) was this guy:


Who looked like this:
And danced and sang during every single song EXACTLY as you'd imagine he would. Except during the Spanish song. But that was pretty much a bathroom/beer run song for the entire audience.

Anyhoo, it was a great show, great venue and probably the last concert we'll partake of for a while. Stupid no job.