Even though he may be a bit long in the tooth (though not half bad for an almost 55-year-old dude), the teasers for the latest Tom Cruise modern day reboot of The Mummy kind of took me by surprise (how does he stay that buff). I found this PG meme which seemed to kind of play off the ‘other side’ part, with a smile for those who prefer to NOT be scared to pieces by CG monsters.
But…if you do feel compelled to have the living know-know-what scared out of you, watch the extended trailer here.
Do you like action-adventure horror films, Tom Cruise and remakes or do you just like a pleasant summer afternoon in a nicely air-conditioned theater with popcorn?
As we were getting the car loaded, this is what happened first. Oy…that dog! We’ll check back in with you all after Mario Andretti gets in the back seat.
So…in the words of Bill Murray from the movie Meatballs… “Wagons…HO!”
Today during our mourning constitution, we passed a convention of sorts going on at a very ungodly hour. Nope, it wasn’t a bunch of canines, cats or coyotes howling at the moon. Instead it was an intersection with very large trees on each corner that was occupied by a very large gaggle of blackbirds–there must have been over a hundred of them dispersed between the 4 trees. I’ve heard that blackbirds are extremely intelligent so I stopped to watch them while Sam sniffed to his heart’s content (hey priorities, I get it–the dog’s gotta read his pee-mail and check Facebook paws-tings, right?). They were cawing and squawking up a storm and for a moment I thought perhaps our presence had disturbed them (mind you it was shortly after sunrise and most of the world hadn’t quite woken up yet). Then I realized they were ‘talking’ back and forth from one tree to one across the street and then one catty-corner. At one point, a bird on our side of the street took flight and join his feathered friends on the other side and the racket grew in volume. Then another bird did the same thing, and then another. The noise was almost deafening and I began to wonder how residents deal with all this racket first thing in the morning? Were these crossing birds the equivalent of diplomats trying to suss out what the issues were, or just the normal rift-raft spreading noise from hither to yon? Was I witnessing bird gangs calling each other out? What was their mission and what were they saying to each other? On the one hand I was fascinated by it all and on the other, I couldn’t help but recall that Hitchcock movie, The Birds and was kind of freaked out. Or maybe it was something like that story circulating lately about a marauding owl in Oregon attacking joggers and stealing their hats. See how my mind works first thing in the morning, it’s kind of weird, huh? 😉
Anyway, all this bird watching made me think about dogs and how they communicate. Is it just noise or is it communication? Sam’s not much of a barker, but he always will backup a storm whenever he sees our mail person delivering the mail. He’ll raise such a ruckus until I open the door to take the mail from her. Then he turns into a butt-wiggling, attention-seeking hound because she is one of his favorite people in our ‘hood. I’m not sure what goes through that little pea brain of his; one second he’s acting like the Great Protector vanquishing an evil-doer who no doubt is hell-bent on killing or robbing me and then the next moment he turns into a cuddly squish looking for ear scratches.
Sam has different barks for different occasions. The mail lady bark is one. It’s ferocious and if you didn’t know better you’d think that hound was vicious. You know the kind, low-pitched and full volumed. A super bark. His second kind of bark is more ‘yip-py’ in nature, high pitched and usually comes out at moments of sheer joy when he sees someone he especially adores and really wants to visit with them. It cracks me up since you usually expect a dog of his size to not sound so sissified. Silly ‘Nancy boy.’
Then there’s the “I absolutely want to come into the house…now!” bark. Higher in pitch and more tonal than the ‘mail lady is ready to murder the family’ bark and usually is just a single bark, not in clusters unless of course I don’t let him in immediately. 🙂 Then the volume turns up and becomes more frequent. Once I let him in, he’s no doubt thinking, “Wow, that barking stuff is really magic…I do it and lo and behold she comes and let’s me in…man, am I a powerful dog or what?!” And to a certain extent, he’d be right with that logic.
His ‘play’ bark is similar to the “I want to come into the house now bar.” It’s also high in pitch but usually occurs in clusters instead of in a single bark. When he’s in the house and he play barks, it kind of confuses him because he’s not sure he’s supposed to do that inside. It seems to escape his mouth before he realizes what’s just happened. I personally love it when he does the ‘Oops, I probably shouldn’t have done that in the house look.’ So adorable.
Barking is definitely a language that dogs use and has it the potential to convey specific information and instructions (stay away, let me in, etc.) to both people and dogs. Sure it’s not like the words we use to describe a situation but you definitely learn to identify what your fur-kid is trying to tell you and others.
So what kind of bark comes out of your fur-iend’s mouth? Is your dog’s barking more of a woof, an arf, or a ruff?
We worked at the hospital over the weekend and thankfully we did not have a repeat performance of one of THOSE days where I managed to get both Sam and I all twitter-patted about silly stuff. And despite it being hotter than bloody-blue-blazes in the Mile High City, we encountered no problems this time. No drama, no meltdowns, no lost ID badges or misplaced keys. It was pawsome and Sam was a rock star [note to self: act more like the dog and live in the moment, but I digress].
One thing I thought about while we were visiting the hospital was why does Sam lean against people so often? I know–weird but haven’t you ever wondered why your dog leans against you? Come on, fess up, you know you do. Most people don’t seem to mind the leaning, they say something like “aw, he’s a leaner, just like my Rusty was…how cute!” So it got me to wondering why dogs do that, and especially, why does Sam do it?
There are a few theories about why dogs lean. Some folks suggest the dog is trying to dominate or exert power over its human. They believe that the dog is trying to claim space or control the situation. Then there are those who think dogs lean to feel safe. They need to feel secure and the close touch reminds them of their litter mate days which, when you think about it makes sense since dogs are, after all ‘pack’ motivated. I tend to think that most of the time though, the dog is leaning because he’s just seeking attention.
Dogs lean for all those reasons at different times. Careful observation when they lean can provide clues in determining just why. Specific instances show how dogs react to different scenarios. Take for example a rescued dog. He may lean against you to feel more secure [oh thank god, she’s still here to protect me!]. Other times they may be looking for reassurance dealing with loud noises or when they’re in unfamiliar territory or around strangers. And sometimes, they just want you to pay attention to them, much like when you get that nose jerk under the arm “commanding” you to pet them or throw the ball or whatever at that moment. And that’s all wonderful in my books.
in Sam’s case I do think he wants make that, craves attention. He just likes being around people and I can always tell when someone is especially high on his list of favs. We always check in at the nurses station to see if there are any patients who especially want to see a pet therapy dog or those that absolutely don’t (hey their loss, but whatever–not my circus, not my monkeys). I noticed our absolute favorite one was manning the station-a male nurse who just happens to be Scottish. Whenever I see him I’m completely delighted by his unbridled enthusiasm for people and his love of dogs and then of course there’s that wonderful lilting brogue! Sam adores him and when we saw him Saturday, the two of them greeted each other like two long lost BFF’s. He shared a couple stories about his own two dogs with me and I started to notice that Sam was leaning in pretty hard (while I’m just swooning at listening to him…I know, shameless-what can I say?). But his voice is so soothing and that accent–oh my stars!! He noticed Sam was leaning against his leg and chuckled out loud about it. “My Scottish Terriers don’t do that to me, it’s lovely that Sam does,” he said in that wonderful brogue (OMG, can you just hear it?). You’d have thought he hung the moon for Sam (not to mention for me) and well he kind of did. 🙂
After our chat we went off to visit patients and Sam seemed especially keen on leaning on people that day. He sat in front of a visitor in one room and leaned heavily against his leg. Everyone of the visitors in the room said “oh that Paul…dogs just love him” and I knew what they meant. He was kind and Sam couldn’t stop leaning and looking up at the guy. Even the patient commented on it and I think poor Paul was a bit embarrassed. No matter to Sam. It was heaven to this goofy Standard Poodle. And when my pup is happy, I’m happy. <3
So the bottom line I guess is in Sam’s case he probably does just want the attention. Then again maybe it’s his own way of giving attention back to a receptive soul. Either way, we’re all the better for it. Hope your weekend was as grand as ours. 🐾
25 years ago on July 12, 1989 (egad…am I really old enough as to have an “I remember when” moment?), one of the most delightful movies of all time opened in selected theatres across America. When Harry Met Sally debuted, it became the quintessential template for future romantic comedies. And who could forget that classic line by director Rob Reiner’s own Mom in the deli scene…I’ll have what she’s having?”
The movie (loosely based on Reiner’s own return to single life following divorce) examines whether men and women can ever be just friends and established a new way of thinking about everyday male/female relationships as viewed in the 80’s. All those back and forth, quirky one-liners we heard throughout the movie set the stage for an enduring and enjoyable film. Meg Ryan went on to become America’s sweetheart and Billy Crystal underscored his chops for impeccable comedic timing.
I, for one, hope that this weekend there’s at least one showing of this timeless film so I can at least record it for later viewing and relish all the classic exchanges between the title characters. Like this one: Harry Burns: There are two kinds of women: high maintenance and low maintenance. Sally Albright: Which one am I? Harry Burns: You’re the worst kind; you’re high maintenance but you think you’re low maintenance.😄
Wishing you a fabulous weekend. Just thinking about what to order the next time at a deli, makes me giggle a bit. ❤️
