Moose Goes to the Beach

Andrea has been back here in California staying with me for the month of November. She had been trying to convince me to take Moose swimming since probably the start of summer. I always shot the idea down because we had no good way of transporting him to and from without making a total mess of my car. Well, thanks to Mom and Dad for picking out a collapsible dog kennel that fits snuggly in back seat... and thereby removing my excuse.

Some friends had described a beach near Halfmoon Bay to Andrea a while back. A beach where dogs can run off-leash (sort of a rare beach to find). So we set out on Saturday to get Moose his first experience with the ocean. We even convinced our friend, Samara, to bring her dogs along as well.

As we were driving out to the coast, the weather wasn't looking very hospitable. In fact, it was raining for most the drive. But as we arrived the rain let up and eventually the sun came out and everything worked out rather well.









Moose was more or less content to run around in the sand and did some splashing around in the water, but he wasn't enthusiastic about actual 'swimming'. He certainly got more comfortable with the water as the day progressed, but it may have had more to do with the tide going out and him being able to touch bottom.

Samara's dogs (Charlie & Sophie, the 2 Boston Terriers in the pictures) were either scared of the water, or too chilled to the bone to even think about going all the way in. It looked like they still enjoyed themselves. They had a game where they would wait for Moose at the edge of the water any time he went out to fetch a toy. When he got back with it, they'd take off like a shot thinking Moose would follow.

There were also a number of other dogs that came up at various points. One especially lively Pointer mix started wrestling with Moose and then tried to coax him way out into the ocean. He thought she was a lot of fun until that point.




Sophie, the one with the black face, is an extremely enthusiastic digger. She always gets scolded when she tried it at the school, but this is the beach! Samara let her try and dig to China. Moose was there for moral support, and Charlie tried to help out but just seemed to end up with sand on his face from standing behind Sophie.





Here are some final shots of when the tide started really going out and the sun came out. By this point, Moose would chase pretty much anything I could throw out into the water because it was shallow enough for him to bounce off the bottom.

Overall it was a big success. We spent 2-3 hours at the beach, then left the dogs in the cars to pass out as we got some lunch. Then of course it was back home for mandatory bath time. We'll have to do this again and see if Moose can actually learn the doggie paddle.

Behemoth Kidney Stone

I just passed the largest kidney stone I've ever seen. This bad boy's been bothering me going on 3 months now. But with work being complete insanity, I haven't made time to go see a doctor about it. I guess things just worked themselves out.

Dirtbombs Show

I drove up to SF to see the Dirtbombs on Saturday at the Rickshaw Stop. This was probably the first concert I've seen for my self in about two years, and what a way to jump back into it. Mick (lead singer & guitarist... formerly of the Gories) and the gang sure know how to rock a room.

I noticed a while back that they were playing at the Outside Land festival in Golden Gate Park. Initially, I thought maybe that would be an interesting experience, until I saw that tickets cost roughly $200 each. All that money for one band I actually care about... not so much. Luckily they added a show at a small venue Saturday night after their performance at the festival, and I jumped all over it (good way to save $190).

I noticed one guy standing up near the stage, but he was constantly facing the crowd. Apparently he was security trying to prevent people from getting too energetic and ramming into Mick. His efforts were meaningless because at some point (during an exceptionally wild song), someone smacked his microphone right into his teeth (energy tranfer's a bitch). Mick bent over for a few seconds to regain his composure, and then just jumped right back into the song. I was impressed. Hats off Mick.




After what appeared to be a short set, Mick started calling people up onto the stage. Some dude from the crowd (probably the same guy who hit Mick in the teeth) put his leather hat on Mick... so generous. Mick then instructed everyone to shake their asses as hard as they could for the last verse of the song. As you can see... that tiny stage was packed, and pretty chaotic. The song ended and Mick said "see ya next time!".




Of course they came back for an encore. We were treated to a highly improvised version of Kung Fu. At the end, everyone holding a guitar (of any sort) started going crazy and playing them above their heads. It was pretty clear they were winding down for the finish.



At the same time, the left drummer (yes, I said left drummer... the Dirtbombs have always had 2) jumped up from his seat and started carrying drums into the audience. He then went back for his stool, sat down and started to play without any PA support right in the audience. It was a high-energy ending to an amazing show.

Andrea's Farewell / Birthday Party

Last weekend, our friends Dennis and Kris were kind enough to offer up their new house as a venue for a little get-together right before Andrea had to leave for Mexico. Her birthday was approaching (about a week later), so it was sort of a double celebration. Sain came out as well to partake in the festivities, and much food & drink were had. Dennis and I were in charge of the bulk of the meal, as we were making heavy use of his brand new grill.





We met Dennis and Kris at the park running our dogs together... so what would a party be without some K-9 horseplay? Moose was hyper (as usual any time he gets into an unrecognized surrounding), and someone threw a handful of treats at me. So this is me trying to get Moose to focus enough to do a trick before handing him a cookie.



Here we have the feast. It included two types of steak, a pork chop for Andrea (since she's been pork-deprived for the past year), sweet corn, sauteed mushrooms, marinaded zucchini and a salad I whipped up.



In Mexico, apparently they have a special way of eating corn on the cob. Normally it involves white corn (not sweet corn), but we work with what we have. To top off the corn, you rub it down with lime, smother it with mayonnaise, and then dust that with chili powder. I tried it before, and it is interesting... but butter just so good. Here we have Dennis trying Andrea's way of eating corn because he loves all things mayonnaise (Andrea actually addresses him as Mr. Mayo when she calls his cell).



I made a Banana Nut cake in honor of Andrea's coming birthday (baked the night before and frosted that morning). Kris and Dennis didn't really believe how heavy the cake is, and were contemplating which flavor of ice cream to serve alongside it. The rest of us sort of chuckled. Needless to say, no ice cream was served. And in fact, the cake's density was compared to the "depleted uranium" if I recall.




And finally, some dog shots for the road...




Thanks again to Kris and Dennis for the wonderful hospitality. Thanks for coming out Sain, and sorry we didn't get a chance to see Tsien. Thanks to Rigby for kicking Moose's butt when he steps out of line.