Barking & Clicking

After doing a bit of research – and tripping across a good deal on Amazon – I bought a spray-type no bark collar for my dog. Baja does respond to a “hush” command, but not reliably, and it’s hopeless when we leave him in the car alone. But he enjoys his rides.

Broadly, there are three choices in terms of collars: shock, sonic / ultrasonic, and spray. I was initially thinking of a shock collar, because he responded so well with the “electric fence” which works on the same principle. (A small shock to correct bad behavior, be it barking or running out of the yard.) But spray collars – which release a non-toxic (but obnoxious to the dog) odor upon barking – have high success rates in independent testing. Citronella is a popular scent option. The idea is that the dog is able to associate his nuisance barking with something he hears, smells, feels, and sees. As opposed to the shock, which can confuse some dogs (as well as increase anxiety).

Baja does not nuisance bark much other than when left alone, indicating separation anxiety as the cause. But it’s also his only bad behavior when alone, so I’m hopeful it can be solved.

I also bought a clicker to aid with training. Mostly so I qualified for free shipping.

Is The Price Right?

So it’s the first week of The Price is Right with Drew Carey. I’ve watched a bit. And I’m not too sure. I like Drew, sure (Who’s Line is it Anyway anyone?).

But it’s weird without Bob. Ol’ Bob. I’m sure Drew will grow into the role. In time. Hey, he’s telling America to get spayed and neutered. And isn’t that really the central issue?

It seems to me as if the audience is younger too. Less of the blue hair crowd, more of a middle-age not-terribly-hip-but-likes-Drew-Carey sort of crowd.

They tried to give away a Dodge Viper today too. The contestant bungled it. Jeez.

Sex Dolls Still Plaguing Me

Last week I changed my hosts, and I no longer have cPanel access. This mean I no longer have access to the really good, detailed site statistic logger things. So I made an account at sitemeter.com and slapped the little link up on my right-hand column. It’s there, click on it and check out the stats if you want.

Anyways, to test it, I went to the blog and then checked to see that my visit was logged. I already had another visitor too, and it was to an old post, one of my most popular. Five days from now, it’ll be two years since I blogged about “the World’s Finest Love Doll.” It was just a humorous story, I thought. But since then, it’s been one of the most popular entries on this site, and searches for that story are one of my biggest draws. This particular chap searched yahoo.com for “male real sex doll.”

Guess who’s the first hit? I’m getting a lot of hits because I quoted the article extensively, and for a while, nerve.com was requiring you to register to read the article. (Today I was able to go back and read the whole thing. Your mileage may vary)

Other related “Love Doll” posts..

I Have The Worst Visitors
Back By Popular Demand – A Real Doll Post

The original article at nerve.com that started it all.

Dog Beer

Dutch brewers launch dogs’ beer

Dog drinking beer

A small brewery in the Netherlands has launched a new beer designed to bring cool relief to thirsty dogs.

Kwispelbier, marketed as “a beer for your best friend”, is made from a special brew of beef extract and malt.

The beverage is a creation of pet shop owner Gerrie Berendsen, who wanted her dogs to share light refreshments with her after a day’s hunting.

The beer is non-alcoholic and fit for human consumption, but costs four times as much as a Heineken.

“Kwispel” is the Dutch word for wagging a tail.

Ms Berendsen, who lives in the eastern town of Zelhem, commissioned the small local Schelde brewery to make and bottle the beer.

“Once a year we go to Austria to hunt with our dogs, and at the end of the day we sit on the verandah and drink a beer. So we thought, my dog also has earned it,” Ms Berendsen told the Associated Press.

That’s the entire story, but it’s still damn entertaining.

Site: Kitten War!

kittenwar.com

Best picture rating site ever. The genius lies in the fact that you’re pitting two kitten pictures against each other, in a mortal struggle to determine which is cuter than the other. Only one will live.

They’re also in the process of making a book. Perfect coffee table material for anyone with a soul.

kittenwar.com

What Is Going On??

Dedication Honors Nude Britney Spears Giving Birth

BROOKLYN, NY (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — A nude Britney Spears on a bearskin rug while giving birth to her firstborn marks a ‘first’ for Pro-Life. Pop-star Britney Spears is the “ideal” model for Pro-Life and the subject of a dedication at Capla Kesting Fine Art in Brooklyn’s Williamsburg gallery district, in what is proclaimed the first Pro-Life monument to birth, in April.

And it seems to be a real news article, too. Here’s the art gallery’s site.

So, my question is…

WHY IS EVERYTHING SO WEIRD AND FUCKED UP?

People are weird.

A to Z Meme!

Haven’t posted in a long time, figured I might as well spam the blog with a worthless meme. Note that I’m on my parents’ computer, so half – hell, probably most – of these aren’t even mine.

Here’s what you do: Go to your browser’s address bar, and type in each letter of the alphabet, and see what it suggests.

via Shrikesque

A: Amazon.com – Followed closely by dozens of apple.com links.
B: Bonnaroo 2006 – I’m going this June. Lots of great bands, but wicked expensive.
C: MarketWatch – No idea, crap that NetZero auto-loads when you go online, or something.
D: Dictionary.com – if I was doing this on my laptop, this would never come up, because I habitually use the dictionary widget via OSX 10.4’s Dashboard instead of this site.
E: eBay – Boring. Last purchase? Intersella 5555 DVD.
F: FAFSA // US Dep’t of Ed. – Filled out financial aid info a few days ago. Late.
G: Gmail – E-mail of choice.
H: Hotmail – Oh, the irony. My parents still use Hotmail.
I: IMDB – The ultimate movie database site.
J: nada
K: Kelley Blue Book – The source when buying or selling a used car. Hoping to ditch my Honda soon.
L: LA Times – The West Coast equivalent to the NY Times. Or so I’ve heard.
M: Gmail – Gotta love how it redirects to “mail.google.com,” right?
N: Newgrounds Politics Forum – “Forum.php?id=4″ beats out the NG front page, the flash portal, and everything else.
O: MacDevCenter – Random site I stumbled upon while looking for [free] Mac software some time ago.
P: PunBB – PunBB is just about the best forum software that I’ve found. Light and fast, but still feature-laden.
Q: nada
R: Rolling Stone – Father’s contribution. Alright magazine though, I’ll admit.
S: Surfing on a Rocket – The forums I just recently opened. Come sign up.
T: Shrikesque – Blawg of the mysterious Shrike.
U: UB’s Photo Blog – I just visited for the first (and probably last) time five minutes ago. Photoblog of the more mysterious brother of Shrike.
V: VersionTracker – OSX software stuff.
W: White Male Consumer – This blog. Actually got the url to the admin section, but there’s nothing to see there. Move along.
X: nada
Y: Yahooligans – Yahoo’s attempt at netting the two- to five-year-old internet surfing age group. I have no idea why this came up.
Z: Mac Zone – Another random mac site I must have clicked through briefly a few weeks ago.

Not terribly interesting on this computer. I’ll have to re-do this later on my laptop, where I’m online the bulk of most days.