Photo:The Dividend of Research

Walking to pick up the kids at school yesterday, I suddenly realized that Hitler’s choice of a breed of dog was probably a political decision. ‘German Shepard’. I had always just assumed he preferred dogs who sit around salivating in eagerness to obey.

Talking about it with The Father, he felt that the choice of a Teckel to represent the Germans during WWI could have had to do with the fact that it’s 1.) so dopey looking and 2.) it’s smaller than a British Bulldog and so met the needs of the propaganda machine better.

Besides giving a rather macho tint to the owner, the Shepard is the one of the few German breeds which is not related to a certain district or town.It’s a German Shepard. I never realized the symbolic nature of the pets belonging to people in power- at least back in that more fascist world. It really just wouldn’t have done for him to have, say, a poodle.

I bet Hitler never called Blondi an ‘Alsatian’.

And I think it’s a good guess that if Benito had a dog he had whippets.

Odd Links

While searching for a photo of the dynamic duo above, I ran across Find A Grave – Browse by Claim To Fame Animals. There seems to be some confusion surrounding the exact location of Ronald, Lord Cardigan’s horse. 4 places claim to have his remains, which makes me wonder if poor Ronald ended up as a batch of goulash kroketten.

C., hearing of my search, also sent me this link Dogs I have known , “By Gerry Adams, ‘a real Steve McQueen, hardcore, irredeemable, never-say-die doggie man’ – and, of course, Sinn Fein president: Match the people and their pets”, with the comment : What’s next? My money’s on ‘Living with Kittens, by Yasser
Arafat’

Photo edited due to hot linking.

I just caught the news on theBBC.

Since I was small, and The Beatles had a cartoon show on TV, ‘George’ was always my ‘favorite’ Beatle ( one had to have a ‘favorite Beatle’) back then.

A sad day.

The Legacy Project, a link I want to keep.”… is a national, all-volunteer organization that works to honor and remember those who have served this nation in wartime by seeking out and saving their letters. ”

I have all of Dad’s and Tea’s letters from Viet Nam and WWII, and this might be a good future home for them.

Photo : The Chisholm Gallery

I have a simply dreadful confession to make- I loathe teckels ( Dachshunds). Even the sight of the beastly semi- rodents makes my skin crawl. And the feeling is mutual- teckels loathe me in return.

I only mention this, as while not quite reaching the status of ‘ nemesis’, teckels have somehow become a leit motif in my life.

So you can imagine, that if it weren’t so terribly politically incorrect, I could easily picture myself hissing at teckels in Hyde Park. Gleefully, in fact. But I can’t imagine why anyone else in their right mind would, when one would think that a german shepard ( a breed which probably was given the moniker ‘Alsatian’ at this time- wouldn’t surprise me one bit) seems the more rational target of such patriotic zeal.

I must come to the conclusion that the only reason the teckel became such an abhorrent object was – as I mentioned some time ago- because they were the Kaisers pooch of preference.

I can almost feel sorry for the little legless wieners at such unfairness, but not quite. You see, tonight, at school, I have to sit across from the woman who made this site. Ok, I cheated. But it used to be up, she did make it and she does sit across from me.

You see, they are indeed ubiquitous.

Photo by DARG

Something I would love to have seen :

( Describing the rise of anti-German feelings in England at the beginning of WWI -)

“Anybody in England with a Germanic name, even of the third and fourth generation, was subject to insult. No orchestra dared play a Wagnerian note and dachshunds were hissed at in Hyde Park.”

Hissed at indeed ! he-he !

From ‘ The Mountbattens’, by Alden Hatch, another one of my out-of-print books – nowhere to be found.

Oh ! Wait ! here it is ! A European Royal History bookstore ! This looks like a nifty source for the oh-so-American weakness I usually try to hide : reading about old royals. Wonder how their Russian section is ?

( something I want to save, somewhere safe from worms and viruses)

Written to C. in response to the question of whether or not the workers were gone-

The workers are still here. I think it’s some sort of conspiracy . Actually, they have moved in, but no one has the heart to tell me. Yes. The Father is financing the rebuilding by letting out rooms.

The Baby is doing very well, but has developed some disgusting habits. One is walking about with her forefinger jammed up to the knuckle in her nostril, the other is playing with her cup of whatever liquid she happens to be drinking. One favorite is spitting coke into the deep carving of our coffee table and then trying to slurp it up. Another ( oh-so-gross) is mixing a few drops of apple juice into her milk, which promptly curdles. Tres Yukkus-especially when she tops it all off by spitting it onto the same carved table.

I avoid life. A computer is a grand escape hatch.

A ‘Four Things’ list ( lifted from The Umbrella Stand )seems to be an amiable way to fritter away some time, which I could be using to oh, prepare for class or to clean the sprouts up for dinner.

Four things you would eat on the last day of your life:

- Pizza from Luigi’s
- Lentil Soup
- Scampi’s in ‘lok’ sauce from that place in Reusel
- A slice of any kind of American cheesecake

Four CDs from your collection that you will never get tired of:

- Neil Young’s ‘Harvest’
- Marillion’s ‘ Childhood’s End’
- Pink Floyd’s ‘ A Momentary Lapse of Reason’
- The soundtrack to the movie ‘ Philadelphia’

Four movies that made you think:

- I can never remember the names of movies. But there was a John Travolta film which reversed the roles of the races which I still think about.
- Any movie about the D-Day landings .

Four celebrities you would have sex with:

- Mel Gibson, but only with his blue paint
- Sean Connery
- Michael Palin
- George Harrison

Four causes that you would donate to if you won the lottery:

- To a local group of nuns who do missionary work in deepest, darkest Africa.
- To the Dierenambulance
- To the Sint Jan ( for restorations)
- To any place helping children/ infants with Aids.

Four vacations you have taken:

- Driving / camping along the entire coast of Scotland
- Renting a farmhouse just outside of Viareggio, Italy. Which we do every year.
- A long weekend getaway to London, the first time Han and I have been ‘childless’ in 9 years.
- A weekend in Brugge, visiting the most depressing and impressive city in the world- Ypres

Four songs you get stuck in your head frequently:
uh…..

Four things you’d like to learn:

- To drive a car
- More of the history of our town ( and our house)
- How to make a really good pizza.
- How I got that worm in my computer.

Four beverages you drink frequently:

-Spa Red
-Coffee
-White Wine
- Beer

Four TV shows that were on when you were a kid:

- Bonanza
- Combat
- The Brady Bunch
- Lost in Space

Four places to go in your town:

- The Dikes
- The Harbor
- The Shoarma place
- The restaurant ‘ In de Verdwaalde Koogel ‘

Four things to do when you’re bored:

- Smoke
- Cut off split ends, one by one
- Drift around Ebay
- Kid around with Catherine

Four things that never fail to cheer you up:

- Going out to dinner
- Money ( God, I’m really shallow)
- The Baby’s laughter
- Hearing from Sgt. Rock

Hmmmm. I could waste even more time by trying to find links to some of these things.

It is a thought.

I came across a very nice site yesterday, packed with recipes from the ‘traditional’ dutch kitchen. Looking over it today, I saw that they have actually translated a few of the recipes into english.

A useful link for me, as all of my cookbooks are ’somewhere in the attic’, which really means ‘ and they were never seen again’.