Wednesday, February 11, 2004
Well, my finger still feels off, but I am steadfastly ignoring it and refusing to tape it anymore, in the hopes that it will heal on its own. I am the consummate optimist, I am.
Please tell me I was not the only person who watched Westminster last night.
Josh the Newfoundland wins Westminster!
that there is josh. his real name is 'champion darbydale's all rise pouchcove', but his call name is josh.
Ah, I was so happy. I really kind of wanted Bunny to win, but Josh also was a good win. Just so long as it wasn't the goddamn poodle or that hideous peke. Anyways, here are the winners, according to group:
Terrier: Coco, a Norfolk Terrier (she looked almost exactly like the terrier in the movie Best in Show, except that was Norwich, not a Norfolk Terrier)
Toy: Les, a Pekingese (group winner last year... a thoroughly hideous beast that doesn't even look like a dog. And watching it walk was just painful)
Non-Sporting: Miki, a Standard Poodle (group winner last year... blasted thing is supposed to retire after this show, and I say good riddance to him)
Sporting: Stump, a Sussex Spaniel (the crowd liked him, because he was low and slow and his tail never stopped wagging)
Hound: Bunny, an Ibizan Hound (group winner last year, named Bunny because of the rabbit-shaped patch of white on her flank. Her real name is Playmate of the Year, in keeping with the theme)
Herding: Kevin, a Welsh Corgi (he reminded me almost forcibly of Kevin the RA. Only, you know, without the piercings)
and of course Working: Josh, a Newfoundland, a group winner last year, and Best in Show this year. What a splendid event to watch.
The best who didn't win Group was, by far, the Pomeranian. They're all supposed to run around the ring and then come back and stand in front of the judge so he or she can look at them. The stand is called 'setting', and usually the handlers have to frantically wave a bit of food about in their hand to distract the dog so it'll stand still enough for the judge. The Pom came off its run, marched up until it was taut at the end of its leash, and set itself without any prompting whatsoever, directly in front of the judge. This little tiny puffball of a dog, standing proudly, staring up at the judge, was one of the greatest things ever. The crowd loved it. The Pom got fourth in Group, which isn't bad, but still. He should have gotten more points for being awesome.
In slightly more interesting (to those of you back home, anyways) yet still related news, the Tibetan Terrier came in third in its group. That's a Moxie dog, mind you. Maddie's dog. And the Keeshond who was in Westminster is apparently the uncle of Corey's glorious Keeshond puppy Cooper! The famousest of dogs. You all ought to go to Nahant to pay homage to his pedigreed glory. I would, if I was in the area.
I also hope that you all watched the Pro Bowl. None of that foolish Grammy business. It was the best Pro Bowl ever. The highest scoring ever, actually, with the NFC winning 55-52. At one point the NFC was down by something foolish like 35 points, and then they came back to win it. All three Patriots in the Pro Bowl (Seymour, McGinest, and Law) were introduced together at the beginning... warmed my little soul, that did. Seymour and McGinest didn't do anything much, but Ty Law had a number of good plays. What made me squeal with unabated joy, though, was Dre Bly's 32-yard interception and touchdown run. Dre Bly! The only Lions player in the game! Huzzah. Detroit representin'.
Today we proved that art students are all insane. Well, maybe just the males of the species. We were on break from CFC (a three hour class that's not even a proper studio... I mean, a three hour drawing class is fine, I can draw for three hours, but I cannot sit and talk about the Meaning of Art for three hours) and were leaning over the stairwell, as you do. Alex, in a burst of inspiration worthy of any art student, turned to Chris and said, "Hey, wouldn't it be cool to jump over all those stairs straight to the landing?"
Chris, being an impressionable sort, seized upon this idea with great enthusiasm. Megan protested: "Um, you guys? That's, like, not a good idea, you guys?" I protested: "Gee, I dunno Chris, that seems like an awfully good way to BREAK A FOOT OR A KNEE." Alas, our intelligent and logical objections were drowned out by the cacophanous insanity that is art studentry.
Chris backed himself up to the opposite wall. He took a great running start. He bounded off the first step and went sailing through the air, his legs tucked up and his arms pinwheeling madly. He landed with a sickeningly loud thud. He was on his feet, but he immediately went down to all fours, and only very slowly rose up again. He then limped laboriously back up the stairs to where we were standing in mute horror.
"Dude, did you see the air I got on that?!"
Well, the moron's foot wouldn't stop hurting him for the rest of class, and it appeared to be swelling up to an alarming size. He's probably got either a stress fracture or a nastily twisted tendon. I left when he was arguing with the CFC teacher over whether he should go to UHS (University Heath Services) or not. She was of the opinion that he really ought to. He thought it would be fine if he just limped on it for a few days. Sigh. Men.
Amusingly enough, this sounds like the sort of thing that Chris from back home would do, given the incentive. Perhaps it's in the name.
In other news, the mildly famous B3tan International Entomological Identification Mystery has been solved. A board member from England (name o'Jeff) has a pond in his backyard, you see, and he has a microscope, and he likes to take pictures of wee things he finds in the water. So he took a gif animation shot of this cute little fellow and posted it to the board. I replied. We got into a discussion which ended up being speculation as to what this critter might be. Both of us being mild zoology nerds, we had many days of debate and discussion on the subject, dragging in another biologically-minded b3tan named Sattamassagana (don't ask).
My animal diversity class has a website for the use of the students. This site has a 'discussion' section where you can post any questions you might have on animals, and experts will attempt to answer them. Cleverly, I decided to post the images of the mystery critter and ask what it was. The expert (the glorious Prof. Hammond, of whom I spoke in the Jan. 30 blog) replied that it was very mysterious to him as well, and he was going to send it around to some entomological specialists at the university to see if any of them knew what it was. Cue more debate, discussion, and speculation on b3ta.
Anyways, today I finally got a reply! It is apparently the larva of a tanypodine midge (family Chironomidae, subfamily Tanipodinae). It is predatory on extra-wee critters, and is quite common in most freshwater areas, both in American and England. The adults look like moquitos but are harmless. Hurray for things being given their proper taxonomic designations!
We have declared it the first use of b3ta as an international forum on insect identification. We are quite proud of ourselves for that.
I have taken photos of campus joys! Well, it's really only a small bit of campus... I don't have any shots of North Campus (the art school, music school, engineering school, some dorms, Pierpont Commons, and the Media Union) or of South Campus (most of the athletic facilities, including the football field and Yost arena, the hockey facility). I also don't have any shots of the two main 'store and eating' streets on campus, South University (the post office, my bank, Panchero's late-night Mexican restaurant, the Bubble Tea place, the enormous arcade, and other such things) and State Street (the State and Liberty theaters, the huge Starbucks, Espresso Royale, Steve and Barry's Michigan apparel, both Stucci's and Ben & Jerry's ice cream stores, and other goodness). I also don't have any shots of 'downtown' Ann Arbor (the real citylike area, with the expensive restaurants and stores and apartments) or Kerrytown (the even more expensive section of Ann Arbor, with very picturesque brick streets, farmer's markets, and a profusion of extremely overpriced handmade candle stores).
Um. So what I do have pictures of is some of the Hill dorms (where I live) and select bits of Central Campus (where the highest concentration of the University buildings are). It's not much compared to how much there is, but hey, this is a huge frikking college. I'm trying to give you folk a taste of the UMich experience, I'm doin' the best that I can.
Oh, the pictures are in this here link. They are all captioned for your reading pleasure, so be sure to click upon them.
I will try to get shots of some of those other places eventually, but we shall see what we shall see. It depends on how motivated I get.
Right, this blog is long enough. Until the next, mes amis, until the next.
10:25 PM
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