Whippet Snippets

Ribsy's in Modern Dog Magazine

Ribsy has made it into Modern Dog Magazine! This is like the Vogue for petrosexuals of the world, featuring hot fashions, informative articles, and the latest dog trends. A fellow dog at the park tonight tipped Ribsy off, said something about seeing him in a fancy glossy magazine. Lo and behold, Girl had entered this photo that she took of him in their Photo Contest awhile back, and he was chosen as a winner! She reckons that this pic is in the Fall issue, but will find out for sure when she goes to Bolen Books tomorrow to check.

In the meantime, you can see it online. Click here to see all the winning photos! (Yes they spelled his name slightly wrong, but that's OK.)

Boy X

Ribsy thought Boy looked a bit funny tonight. Almost like he had four eyes. But that can't be right. Humans only have two. But this bespeckled Boy looks like he might have a trick or two up his sleeve. Like he's sharper or something. That could just be his improved vision however - good for nerve-wracking medical exams and the like.

Photo voyage

Ribsy's back! He's found some more evidence as to what his Girl has been doing for the last week without him. And what a relief! No pictures of other dogs. Well real ones anyway.

All the publishable photos are accessible now through the handy dandy Alaska 2006 photo album, found on the right-hand side, or by clicking here.

   

Bye Voyage

Guest blogger Girl recaps the whirling dervish of events during the last day at sea.

We ate. We slept. We came home. We cried. Ok, no it wasn't that simple. The seamlessness of it all, however, makes it all very surreal that Linda and I were basking in the glory of an Alaskan cruise for an entire week. I am now writing from the comfy chair at home, taking my time to contemplate my thoughts. I also just emerged from a three hour nap, so forgive me if my writing is more tedious than usual. Ribsy was 'twirly-ious' with delight as I scampered up the float plane dock this morning, and I dropped my overweight bags and hugged him deepy. Oh, and Boy too. He trucked in new rock for the side yard and front path, and stained our fence. Now he's sanding the back door and mowing the lawn. What a star.

But anyway, back to the final day, all spent at sea. The winds were calm, the sun burst through, and the water sparkled with the assurance that it was going to be beautiful cruising from here til home. It was a rather lazy day, spent indulging in the luxuries of being aboard a cruise ship. Lounging in a deck chair with a cozy blanket, running on the treadmill while spying for whales in the midst, and eating all our favorite delights at our last supper in the fancy dining room. I noshed on a seafood cocktail, chilled avocado and crab soup, tender tuna steak, and for the third time on the trip - a baked Alaska.

Aside from the food, Linda and I couldn't have asked for better dinner mates. They kept us laughing with their stories and their animated personalities. A special mention goes to Lena - a great-grandmother - who told us that she recently changed her e-mail address in order to combat the annoying amount of SPAM in her inbox. Yes she used all those words!

We were entertained in the lounge with encore performances by the banjo guy and the ventriliquist. Not too enthralling the second time around, so Linda and I went to the Explorer's Lounge and listened to the wonderfully soothing sounds of the classical Rosario Strings group. I *sniff, sniff* even cried when they played My Heart Will Go On. So sad. It pretty much symbolized the end of the voyage for me.

Returning to the room at night's end, it was disappointing to discover that there was no final towel animal. Wah again! Pictured at left are the ones from the previous two nights. Those room stewards really are a talented, hard-working bunch.

Now that I'm back on land in our fair, quaint city, I worry about having smoked salmon, caper and cream cheese toasted bagel withdrawal. I worry about wanting to cruise again and not being able to. And I wonder. I get the same feeling at an airport. All these lives of all these people, coming to an intersection, and going just as quickly as it came. What led to them to the ship? And what will be the next chapter? How will the next day unfold? As time fades the memories, there will be new intersections. I am very glad for the experiences that this truly unforgettable voyage has brought.

Bye bye voyage!

Busty Voyage

Guest blogger Girl returns with her third attempt to record the latest and greatest in Alaskan cruising.

It's a wonder we have Internet access on board the ship, but not surprisingly the connection can be sketchy from time to time - such as last night. I'll try my best to remember what I typed, but it won't be as good, nor as accurate as the first attempt. You can start cringing now.

One of the best parts of the ship is the walking deck that goes around the perimeter of the ship, and that was the setting for the On Deck for the Cure event. Holland America says it will hold this same event on all of its cruises, and expects to raise about $300k! Outfittered in our white t-shirts and pink bracelets, we proudly walked the 12 laps in the blustery winds, as the unforgiving rain lashed across the deck. Nothing that a tasty toasty hot chocolate can't help you forget.

Lunchtime featured an Alaskan cookout with tender, flaky salmon, reindeer sausage and Alaskan beer. Unfortunately I was denied a beer, as I appeared to be 18 years old to the server. When you're on a cruise ship, you walk around with nothing but your roomcard. This is your key to your room, and also your wallet. It's a cashless society so luxuries such as booze, Internet access time, and soda pop get charged to your card, which is linked to your credit card. Simple right? However, I can't prove my age with it, and thus the opportunity to taste Alaskan beer was lost. I sure got busted.

In the afternoon we docked at Ketchikan. And the weather was shite. Rain, cold, wind. but the city was filled with about a gazillion jewelry shops. I heard that three of them are locally run and are open year round; the rest of them pack up when the cruise season is done and many of them follow the ships as they head south like the birds. This ship we're on, when this cruise is done, is headed for a 30 day cruise down through Panama and South America. The Amazon or bust!

Oh, and the virus scare has passed. So that means we can help ourselves to the offerings at the buffet table and not have to wipe our hands with sanitizer 15 times a day, although these stations are accessible everywhere on the ship. But with that comes the danger of over eating, which most folks on the cruise don't seem to have a problem with. Speaking of eating, dinner featured ahhhhhhh-hi tuna (mmmmmmmmm), seafood chowder and prime rib.

And if that wasn't enough for us oinkers, the evening was capped off with a late night dessert extravaganza complete with classical music, sumptious cakes and pastries galore, and a silky chocolate fountain. I think everybody's pants were busting loose, including mine. I dined on a tasty choco mouse cake.

Turned our clocks back an hour again as we head into Canadian waters and cruise back home. Saturday is a day at sea as we sail home. The thought of doing dishes and making my bed makes me sad. But the thought of seeing Ribsy (I love you Ribsy!) makes me very, very happy. No dog in any Alaskan town came close. The most popular Northern dogs seem to be the husky (of course), Rottweilers, and labs. Not surprisingly there have been no skinny dogs sighted. Bust on Alaskan whippet dreams.

Beautiful Voyage / Big Voyage

Guest blogger Girl is back with more from the great Alaskan cruise.

Beautiful Voyage: Day Four - Haines, Alaska

Bag into the blogging fold, I was delighted to see the stairway to heaven, aka the gangway to Haines. Even though it was a small town, and even though it was rainy (and poncho-worthy, according to Linda) and even though there wasn't much to see if you weren't prepared to shell out hundreds of dollars, it was a welcome activity to walk around the quaint town after rockin' the boat for almost three days straight. There were a few airplane outfits and a dilapatated elementary school. It was quite overcast so unfortunately the beautiful mountains that hugged the town were not visible until we were sailing away during dinnertime. But it was nice to troll around. When you've got wobbly sea legs like mine, you kiss the ground. It was absolutely beautiful.

Speaking of which, the majority of the day was spent dodging the rain and cozying up inside the ship with On Beauty. I am proud to declare that I have finished the book. Next up: Eleanor Rigby by TheDouglas. Douglas Coupland. For the foodies, the highlight was a sumptious chocolate truffle, erupting with a decandent chocolate sauce.

Oh and here's the towel animal of the day. A lobster!

Big Voyage: Day Five - Juneau, Alaska

Big, big big big big big big...I had the catchy 6/49 jingle dancing in my head. We cruised overnight to the state capital, the big town of 31,000, Juneau. Did you know that there is no highway out of there? To leave the city you must travel by boat or airplane. Did you also know that it's the second largest state capital? In terms of size that is.

There were plenty of sharp quills, souvenir shops, steep streets, and saloons to keep us busy, plus we stole away for a quick jaunt out to see the Mendellan (sp?) Glacier. Yes, another glacier, but in town. How cool is that? The only thing in the centre of our fair city are some noisy seaplanes. On a personally distressing note, though, a Wal-Mart is moving in on the folks of Juneau! They purchased an old K-Mart building and are set to demolish the heart and soul of Juneau. Too bad, because it really is quite a pretty town.

And because it's a big kind of entry (guests on the ship seem to be growing, growing, growing!) here's a homage to all things tasty! A listing of the food parade, led by escargots, followed by a forest mushroom soup, surf and turf (consisting of filet mignon and lobster), and capped off with a baked Alaska with cherry sauce. Unfortunately my camera lighting did not do a good job.

But here's a picture of all the folks at our big round table, looking fine in our formal duds.

Oh, and no Towel Animal for today - haven't returned to the stateroom yet.

Tomorrow we stop at Ketchikan (not sure if I'm spelling it right) in the afternoon. Up first at bat: The On Deck for Cancer walk event! For a $15 donation, we get to join a team in walking 5km around the deck of the ship (I reckon that's about 15 laps), and in exchange we get a cool On Deck t-shirt and a pink Holland America breast bracelet. This will be a great warm-up for the other walk that I'm participating in in a few weeks' time.

Brrr Voyage

Guest blogger Girl returns with Day 3 of the Alaskan cruise story:

Today's friendly postcard comes to you from Glacier Bay National Park, where us overindulgent cruisers were treated to not one, not two, but five (or was it six?) glaciers. Pictured at left is the Marjorie Glacier (er, the white thing behind us - we're not the glaciers silly!).

And here's an 'artistic shot', reflected in the window of the deck. Ha ha ha. I know you photographers out there are laughing, but when you're limited to a point-and-shoot and no ACDSee software on the machine to correct Shadows and Highlights nor Heal blemishes, well, folks this is what you get!

We were never truly that close to any of the glacial monsters - which is testament to their mobility, and to the fact that sheer cliffs of ice tumble off them constantly, plunging into the frigid waters below to continue as iceberg afterlife. And no, don't let the title of the entry fool you. It wasn't that cold at all. I wore my Lulu free-for-all outfit and got away with it.

I am happy to report that the waters have been calm, seasickness is but a distant barf bag memory, and that I have been able to eat whatever the hell I want again. For all you foodies out there - and I know who you are - here's a quick rundown of the festival of flavours: crab salad, lobster bisque, salmon tartare, and oven roasted duck. But luckily for us, there is the walking track on Deck 6 - four laps around the ship equals one mile. And we must have done at least four miles today. Plus I ran at 6am in the gym. Can you believe I snagged the last treadmill? Just perfect for watching the daylight break over the mountains.

The library books are now available for checkout (there was a 'code red' on them because of the viral situation but soft-covers are still off limits to patrons). I signed out a copy of On Beauty by Zadie Smith. I feature it on way too many pages, so I should read it!

And one final but important observation for today: the staff here are amazingly kind, tolerant and talented. I wonder what they think of all the gluttony aboard the ship! And they've been doing extra work with the outbreak of the norwalk virus on the previous excursion. (Did I mention this already?) As a precaution, all food has to be served to us, so there are is free dib grabbing at the buffet bar allowed. So these folks, who already have their regular jobs to do, have to pitch in with extra shifts serving us perpetually starving marvins. And tonight was the Master Chef's dinner, where they entertained us with singing and dancing while they served.

And here's an example of our steward's handiwork. Let's see what you can do with a bath and hand towel.

The evening was capped with a cozy night in at the theatre (we skipped the comedian in the show lounge). Fresh popcorn was served up along a dose of the mighty Tom in Mission Impossible 3. I think our show was probably funnier.

Tomorrow is our first day on land. We're stopping in Haines, Alaska. I don't know what's there, but I bet there won't be any fish net stockings. Maybe just fishnets.

Barf Voyage

The Alaskan cruise continues. Guest blogger Girl returns with a recap of the second day.

A full, non-stop, no-land-docking, no-way-off-this-ship day at sea. The pilot is cruising full speed ahead towards the wondrous Glacier Bay. Unfortunately my stomach was also cruising at full speed...towards the bathroom. By 6:15 am this morning - right after I lifted my first 15lb dumbell only to realize that trying to workout was going to be a futile endeavor - I was queasy and confined to the bed. Fresh air didn't help. And neither did the seasickness tablet. Linda whipped into mom mode and brought me much needed apples, crackers, and a warm cookie. Plus she also purchased an acupressure bracelet, which you wear on a certain point on your wrist in order to alleviate the nausea. And it worked! I managed to work out for an hour in the gym. A front row treadmill afforded me glimpses of a pod of orca whales frolicking in the open waters. I am still wearing it right now (the bracelet, not the orcas). The gray sweatband material went lovely with my brown silk dress, I must admit.

There is a wide ranging opinion as to what 'formal' wear constitutes - everything from 007-esque white tuxedos to Rolling Stones sweatpants seemed to be ok with the attire police. Alaskan king crab was on the menu, as well as rack of lamb, beef wellington, and more delectable dessert choices. The evening capped off with a drink at the top floor Crow's Nest, which is the ship's nightclub. Tonight's theme is 'prom night' (featuring top tunes form the 50s, 60s and 70s) and tomorrow's is 'country line dancing.' Hmm. The boat hasn't stopped rocking. I swear my keyboard is swaying. Or maybe it's all the folks older than me who have the energy of teenagers. What is it about embarking on a ship that turns them into night crawlin' party goers? I don't even think I can keep my eyes open for the Dutch chocolate dessert buffet which is but a mere 35 minutes away.

We've been told to wind our clocks back an hour. Did you know that Alaska is in its own time zone? Somehow I feel like the clock has gone back more than an hour on this ship!

Bon voyage

Guest blogger and Alaskan cruiser Girl writes:

A wave goodbye to Ribsy and Blitzen in the Vandosa and off Linda and I were to catch the first of two ships on today's schedule - BC Ferries and the Holland American Lines' MS Veendam. Guess which one we were more excited about. The check-in process was smooth and breezy - nothing like an airport - and within an hour we were on board our decadent boat ("Ship," Linda corrected). And within another 20 minutes we were in the buffet line-up for our first meal of the day. With another Norwalk virus scare on the disembarking cruise, the ship was first thoroughly disinfected, and the buffet privileges stripped. Suddenly all food was being served to guests, books on shelves were off-limits, and Sani-stations were set up all over the ship. It's good to know that they are taking precautions! But back to the food. We started off lightly with salad, cheese, smoked salmon, and beef barley soup. Oh and desserts. Today: 2 cookies.
Feeling satiated, we explored the ship and the many, many activities that await us. Many we won't be participating in, including the costly seaweed wraps, facials, and consumption of pop. However, there are many free activities to indulge in: a great walking track on the outer deck, a gym with a view, detox and other health seminars, and an art auction with free champagne.

Sailing away from Vancouver, we cruised under the Lions Gate Bridge and the clearance was about the width of a skinny whippet. Dinner was held in the main dining room, where we got to meet our dinner mates for the first time. All Canadians, and mostly from the Lower Mainland.

The highlight was dessert and my very first Baked Alaska, drooling with hot fudge sauce, a swirl of meringue, and an inner icy cream core. A showtime performance followed in the evening, where we were treated to an revue of all the ship's entertainment stars, a bevy of musicians, singers and dancers. Tomorrow is a day at sea and the first formal evening night, where Linda and I will rock the room with our fancy attire. Oh, the fun has just begun! And so has the costs for this Internet. At 40 cents a minute, I am glad that I passed Typing 9 with flying 70 wpm colors.

Till to tomorrow.

The end of a whippet's summer

Ribsy apologizes about the lack-o-posting as of late. There has been no shortage of events and going-on's during these blissfully mild days of late summer, including (in no particular order of importance or occurance) --

- Fizzio and (was) Bald Guy welcome lil Gabby! Congratulations!!
- The seventh month anniversary of Vivi the whippet showdog's disappearance from JFK airport. Folks in that area have not forgotten her, so much so that whippet owners are often accused of having 'napped the pooch.
- The city slickers' epic bike trip. Thanks for the extra walks and warm comfy laps!
- Speed can be trouble. Just ask Ribsy's ghastly bloody nose, suffered from an early morning dog park collision with a robust German Shepherd.
- Two weeks of the whirling dervish that is Blitzen. From backyard scraps to furious gobbling of meals to tag-teaming at the park (Ribsy humps, Blitzen lunges for the neck), Ribsy is going to need a vacation when Blitzy Boy goes home.
- Speaking of vacation, Girl is off on an Alaskan cruise tomorrow! She's secured permission from Ribsy, and will be blogging from the Internet cafe aboard the ship. Meanwhile, Ribsy will have Boy all to himself and he's heard word of a potential 'mancamp' adventure. What a way to kick off autumn!