Dog Daze

Dear Friends, I thought it about time that Gina the Wonder Dog made her blog debut. In my wanderings around cyberspace, I have come across countless photos and fragrant words dedicated to pets of all stripe. Gina is certainly no less a beast than any of the Fidos and Gingers I have encountered, and therefore I posit she deserves her rightful pace in the ether. She is an English Staffordshire Bull Terrier (for you North Americans in the audience, no, she's not a pit bull) and is a credit to her breed. Though she has been with us over nine years now and is slowing down a bit, she still has bags of vim and vigour. Gina is also wonderfully adept at chasing off any crap Canadian pop superstar divas who might happen to wander into the neighborhood. Her only flaw is her intolerance, owing to an early encounter with a psychotic Jack Russel, of small, yappy dogs who assault her. Mind you, she did once chew a hole in our kitchen wall, but I chalk that up to puppyish folly. Rest assured, gentle readers, I will not have Gina "posting" cutie canine observations on life; she is a simple creature, and knows nothing of these things. So there you have her, Gina the Wonder Dog. God bless her.

As we speak, Gina is dozing in the lovely warm sunshine that is painting our backyard. Closer to heaven she has no desire to be. Indeed, we are all wandering around somewhat dazed and blinking in a solar stupor. I have noted that, much like the British, Vancouverites jump at the first opportunity to shed clothes and bare skin to the sun god. However, what I can't figure out is that British Columbians seem already to be tanned & toned, while in the UK springtime is initially pasty white flesh all round. Anyway, maybe it's heatstroke, but for the past couple of days I've been totally unable to stop singing & shimmying along with Brighton's beautiful Pipettes (nice change from all the moping). These three thoroughly modern sweeties make a truly divine noise, with all due homage paid to the Ronettes and their sistahood. Fantastic pop, methinks. They've been avidly blogged as of late, but let me add my tuppence in case you've not yet fallen under their spell. Come waste your kisses on them at their website, http://www.thepipettes.co.uk/.

This coming week we will be moving house, so I may not be as blog apparent as I have been. When we moved into our last house in London some 7 (egads!) years ago, I spent two days furiously painting it with the help of dearest Uncle Dave (who we miss fiercely). The soundtrack to those 48 hours was provided by Supergrass, whose song "Pumping on your Stereo" seemed to be on hourly radio rotation. Indeed, to this day the sound of Gaz & the boys fills my heart with giddy gladness and my nostrils with the smell of latex paint.

Speaking of soundtracks:

Hounds of Love - The Futureheads (buy here)
Can Your Pussy Do The Dog - The Cramps (buy here)
Moving - Supergrass (buy here)
Get Out Of My House - The Business (buy here)
Your Kisses Are Wasted On Me - The Pipettes (buy here)