2013 already?

Hmm, 2012 is already over and I haven't posted on this blog in months.  NADAC Champs has come and gone and anyone that only follows this blog has no idea how we did.  I was never one for writing deeply moving posts about my experiences.  I have a feeling this will be my last blog post, maybe not forever, but I just wanted to put that out there instead of dropping off the face of the earth 'suddenly.'  Writing has never been one of my favorite activities, so it's surprising I even decided to start a blog.  I think this blog has served me well, but since I transferred to CSULB, I really don't get to do much with my dogs as I only see them on weekends and breaks.  So, here's what we've been up to in the last few months.

We'll start with Championships.  My dogs were pretty darn awesome and each came home with ribbons from all but one round and got into finals.  I was really happy with Truly and how she handled the atmosphere.  She didn't seem bothered at all and only one loopy run.  She was clean all six rounds up until that point.  I wasn't sure how she'd handle it since the only other 'big' even she's run at was a demo day at the fair for 2011 PIDC, because Blue's ear was messed up, and she was crazy.  Here's Tru's first run at Champs!



Blue was a lot less consistent than she's been at previous Championships.  It really seems to me like she's 'aged' a lot in her attitude this year.  It seems like she's a lot less serious than she used to be.  I always say that she thinks 8" jumps are a joke.  She's very sassy and has more of a mind of her own than ever before.  Despite the faults she had in about half the runs, she still managed to place all but one round.  I think the fault that set her back the most was getting called for 'unsafe' weave poles because she got stuck her shoulders stuck on the entrance, which isn't something I see her do very often.  Figures it would happen at Champs though.  She placed 1st a couple rounds, and I'll be honest, I would have been disappointed if she hadn't gotten at least one blue ribbon, haha.  Her name is Blue and I kind of expect high placements out of her.  Here's one of Blue's 1st place runs on an extra long course: her favorite!



Blue and Truly also ran on a team together, with Truly's brother Aiden (who is freaking fast)!  I think I already mentioned that my mom was running Blue in team and they did really well together!  I think Mom and Blue were the only ones to run clean all rounds.  All in the Family placed 3rd in round one.  We weren't able to follow up that performance in any of the other rounds haha.  I always suck at team.  Maybe one year I'll manage to do well all three rounds.



So, anyway, both my dogs go into finals.  NBD right?  It is a big deal, but it really doesn't feel that way to me because I've run finals every Champs I've attended.  Blue's division, Double Digit 4"/8" were up and she was second to last dog to run, which meant she was sitting in second place going into finals.  I was kind of nervous as to be expected, but hey, it's just Champs, I've got this.  Blue was extremely spunky before this run.  We had just won one of the huge raffle baskets and it was full of toys, so Blue was just in the trailer playing with all of them.  I don't know why, but I got to the first discrimination and started to say 'tunnel' when Blue needed go up the AF.  It came out 'tu-climb' and while my body and the path Blue was on said 'climb,' Blue chose to listen to my mouth and made an amazing effort to get into that tunnel.  Just watch:



Even with all her faults through the week, she still managed third place overall!  I'm really disappointed with myself for that last one, because after the scores came out, I saw that she was exactly 10 points behind the second place dog.  I would have liked to get first at what was more than likely Blue's last Champs, but I at least wanted a big ribbon.  I would expect nothing less of Blue, haha.  Is it bad to just expect something like that of your dog, or good that you have that confidence in them?  I don't know.

As I've stated, Truly surprised me with how well she did through the week.  I really had no expectations of her (unlike Blue, haha), so I would have just been happy with her running clean and maybe earning one placement.  Yes, I'll admit hoped for at least one placement.  So, Truly placing all but one round and getting into finals was an awesome surprise!  I knew that she was not the fastest dog in her class so I didn't expect her to get 1st place over all.  The only way she could hope to do that would be run clean and smooth every round.  That didn't happen.  Her only faults all week were in round 7.



Despite that run, she was in third place as she went into finals, which is what she came out with!  I was really into yellow this year, haha.  She also earned the Highest Scoring Sheltie award, which at first I thought was because the Sheltie that got first (the top three dogs in 12" were all Shelties) didn't sign up to get count.  This award only counted through round 5 or 6, I can't remember, but I went and added up the scores and Truly really did have the most points.  I was honestly surprised when I saw that.  This means she was in first place until that run in the morning and it knocked her all the way done to third.  Poor Tru.  I am always so suspicious when she does really good.  Tru has gotten only a couple 100+ run indexes at trials and I am always suspicious.  I know for sure that one was  a timer mess up because I timed my video of the run and it didn't match up.  It's almost the exact opposite of Blue, haha.

Champs is always an experience and I got to do some things I hadn't done before like fly on a plane alone (not really a big deal) and well, run Truly.  It was really fun to watch Truly's brother run and as always see friends that I only get to see at Champs.  Truly and her brother have so many of the same quirks!  I haven't had a dog with siblings before and it's really fun to see how they are alike and different.

So, anyway, after that I felt pretty rushed the rest of the semester even though I only missed one class each.  I got lucky and some of my classes ended up cancelled so I had extra time to do the work I didn't do over Champs.  Whatever.  And then a sudden three day NADAC Fun-rasier was added a couple weeks after Champs in our area.  Dogs did pretty well, if I remember correctly.  Tru was doing really awesome with distance.  Her closest try was the Chances in this video.  As it would get further into the day, she would have brain farts in the sun.  I swear, since she'd be fine the part of the course in the shad and then it'd get sunny and it's like she'd forget what she was just doing.  Oh Tru.



Then we had another trial in November.  It was supposed to be two and a half days long (they do a few classes on Friday, not a full day though), but I started to feel really tired on Saturday and got home and confirmed that I had a fever, so I didn't go on Sunday.  I didn't take any videos, and the dogs did okay.

So, then we went to our usual Dec. trial in AZ the weekend after classes ended.  Good way to kick off break, haha.  The dogs were awesome, while the weather was not, at least on Saturday.  The other days were fine.  Truly got a 20 pt bonus in Chances!  Blue was really close and got a Q, but since it was a box, I needed to be in there before she left the start line, and she broke when I was one step away.  Blue seemed really fast that weekend and even got a 100+ dri in Tunnelers.  Crazy 11 year old dog.  And someone was saying it was time to retire her and get a new dog after Tru finished her NATCH?  Hahaha, no.  Blue is gonna live forever.





We did a few runs at an ASCA trial the other weekend because I needed to drop something off.  Not sure I'll be back because of the price.  I wish I could because that club has rubber equipment, so Tru could run, but yeah, again, expensive.  Blue almost has an ATCH worth of points from before ASCA and NADAC split, but I don't know if it's worth it.

That's everything agility wise.  I have a couple more weeks of break and then we'll do one day of a trial after the first week of school.  Then whatever the usual trials in the area are.  I probably won't keep this updated.  I just put off writing about trials and then I forget how we did or how I felt.  I don't practice anymore so it's not like I can update that.  So, I hope anyone that still reads this has a great 2013!  I don't know when you'll hear from me again, but I can't say I'll never post again.  I still post videos on my YT and write about how we did in the descriptions. That's also where you can find the rest of the dogs' videos from Champs.

PAC NADAC Aug. 25-26, 2012

Well, I'm sitting in my dorm right now.  I wasn't even sure how many runs I would be able to get in at this trial.  Or if I even would want to be there.  Let's just say it can get hot at the location.  I managed to run nine out of the ten classes offered AND get up to school in time to check into my dorm on Sunday.  I was kindly allowed to run my last run (the fourth out of five classes) out of order so I could get home and finish packing.

Anyway, Truly was MUCH better this trial.  Completely back to normal.  Maybe even exceptionally good.  She was doing awesome distance and sends and running very fast, and staying in weaves all the way through.  She even earned her first Elite Weavers Q!!!  I'm glad she wasn't weird, because it means there was something weird going on just in Mammoth Lakes and not something serious going on with her.  That would be just what we need before Champs.

She had an awesome bonus attempt in Regular on Sunday.  It was a 20 pt box/line thing in the corner near the start line.  She got to the fifth to the last obstacle before not turning away.  I managed to run out and 'save' her and the Q.  She was flying and I was so proud of her.  Maybe we'll manage to become a bonus/Stakes team yet!  (I'm the real hang up on that goal.)

Blue was great too and finished her NATCH-8!  I am going to start cutting down the number of runs she enters.  Five runs a day is becoming a lot.  I didn't run her in Weavers and only ran her twice on Sunday.  I think the number and class of the runs with depend on time of year, location, and schedule.  I kind of have this little goal of getting to NATCH-10 with her and then putting her back in Novice/semi-retiring her.  She's only 11 Qs in Jumpers away from that.  We'll see what happens.  I think the first 3 runs a day sounds good.  Unless one of those is Weavers.  No more Weavers for Blue.


 That was our last trial before Champs.  I can't wait!  Champs is always an experience.

ESAG NADAC Trial 2012

After an eight hour drive Sunday night/Monday morning, we arrived back home from the beautiful mountains in Mammoth Lakes.  My whole family drove our trailer up and we stayed up there for four days.  They were running EGC on Friday and I really wanted to run that with Tru, so we went up Thursday (yay for 8 hour drives! not), but weren't allowed to camp at the trial site that day, so we stayed at Convict Lake.  Gorgeous site.  Well, once we got into the mountains all the scenery while driving was beautiful, so it really wasn't a bad drive, just hot.  Anyway, our campsite wasn't far from a little creek at all and nothing said the dogs couldn't go in.  People were fishing and there were some deer that came right up to it.  In the evening, we even saw one deer right up by another site and the people there didn't even notice!

Sirius found a new love in creeks and rivers and lakes. I actually didn't see much of this since I was at the trial all weekend.  I'm glad she's found something she really enjoys.  We've been taking her to the beach and throwing the frisbee for her there, but lakes are so much nicer.  No need to wash the sand out of the dogs after they get wet.  I wish there was somewhere we could take her near us.

Truly was very strange.  She was very, err, needy and seemed uncomfortable.  Only Qd on three runs, but earned her S-WV-O and S-TN-O.  (And won a bottle of wine in the No Whining raffle!)  A friend that was there thinks it might have been that altitude and I'm thinking she might be right.  Tru's so concerned with her body and how she feels.  She used to really freak out when her ears would pop while driving.  She doesn't like slats.  Certain spots of grass are considered icky and she won't walk in it.

She wasn't sending very well.  I tried a couple 15 pt bonuses, but she only did well on one.  (Not good enough for a Q though.)  It was rainy and cold on that one.  We actually got to run that course twice because we were rained out on Saturday with two classes left to run.  Well, 1 and 2/3.  Most of Open and Novice Tunnelers still needed to run.  They let those who ran in the rain were allowed to run again, which is where one of Tru's Qs came from, haha.  (Since I ran with her the second time.)  Otherwise she wasn't doing too well with the distance.  Or, she'd start okay and then mess up and not rebound as well as she normally does.  She was popping out of the weaves whenever I'd say something as well.  Just all around weird.

She got to run EGC and had fun with that!  This was the first time we did barrel racing and run the same course twice.  Tru usually memorizes the course she's rewarded for, but oddly (as was the trend this weekend), did WORSE the second time around.  I also think she could have run faster, but Ideal Truly Conditions (tm) are dark and cold.  It wasn't consistently dark and cold.  Damp also seems to be a real Tru speed boost.  I think the grass was a little thick for her too.  It's so funny how environment effects her so much more than Blue.  I wish there was some more EGC closer.  I'm hoping clubs can be encouraged to add EGC on Fridays.


Blue was awesome as usual.  She Qd 8/10 runs.  Don't know if there's much to say.  Wait, yes there is.  My mom ran her two times and Qd both!  Mom is running Blue in team at Champs.  She, Truly, and her brother Aiden are on the team that we called 'All in the Family,' haha.

AKC July 8th, 2012

Earlier this month, I entered Truly in just JWW at an AKC trial 5 minutes away from me. I get the confirmation e-mail for the two ring/one judge trial, and Ex. JWW is running after Standard. Sounds good, I don't have to head down for a few hours after they start and can sleep in, right? Well, didn't quite work out like that on Saturday. Apparently the DW was broken and they had to borrow a part, so they could fix it.  (I was very happy with my decision to not enter Standard because of the equipment.) Instead of waiting around to run it first, they just decided to run JWW first. I showed up about 10 mins too late and missed the whole class.  gj, me.  Guess I learned my lesson about showing up for check in.

On Sunday I actually went down in the morning JUST TO BE SURE that nothing was broken.  I went home after that and came back just as they were finishing Ex. Standard. Tru Qd, but she was melting on the start line, haha. I'd say it was a little warm for her.  She needs one more Q for her AXJ.  Then  I think she'll be done until I get her AX and she'll move to Preferred for any other AKC trials. Another memorable thing that happened at this trial was a bee swarm trying to land on various pieces of equipment while they were getting the course ready for Open Standard.  Really glad I wasn't entered, since that delayed the start of the class for quite a while.



We've got a couple NADAC trials coming up in August.  One in Mammoth and one more local, that I'll only be doing one day of since I have to check into my dorm on the Sunday.   I'm really excited about the Mammoth trial since they're doing EGC on Friday and I love running that with Tru.

UDAC NADAC 6/1-3/12

Okay.  I tried writing this post on my tumblr and I'm just going to copy/past it here.  I don't know if I liked writing on tumblr any more than I like writing here.  I think the main thing I need to do with these is write them sooner.  My feelings and ideas all leave me the longer I wait to write.

"So, I moved her to Skilled and back to lower levels in most classes to finish up her Superior titles at this trial.  She Qd 12/15 runs, including a 15 pt Q in Chances!!!  That's her second bonus Q ever.  She got her Superior Open Jumpers title, but I think we're going to stay in Open for a while longer to mess with more distance on a shorter and less technical course to build confidence.

She really did some nice distance for as warm as it was.  She really doesn't care much for the heat (sun specifically), and I know she's never running full speed when it's like that.  Normally she can't function at a distance in weather like this.  I'm really proud of her.



Blue Qd 9/13 runs.  She was good on Friday and had a pretty good bonus attempt AFTER we already messed up.  Unfortunately on Saturday, that good bonus mood was gone.  I tried a couple that morning and she just wasn't feeling it.  She also seemed a little more cautious/attentive than usual.  Maybe my commands are still too late when I'm not really pushing.  Maybe our issue is a mutual feeling of 'it doesn't matter.'  Maybe it was the weather.  On the last 3 runs of the weekend, I really started to have that really connected 'what a great run' feeling.  She's also really out of shape, which probably isn't a good thing  considering her age.  All of us need to work on that this summer.  Walks and beach time here we come!  I think next time there's a three day trial, she won't be running on Friday, she was pretty wiped on Saturday night.



I think we'll be doing two trials in August.  One in Mammoth Lakes, and then one that's more local, but I can only do one day of that trial, since I have to check into my room at school.  Then it's Champs.  Wat?"

I forgot to include that Blue earned her O-WV-O, haha.  Not like that's a big deal.  It was really warm on Saturday, and it reminded me why we didn't usually do this trial.  There's so little NADAC around here though that I'm taking what I can get now.

NATCH Truly!

Truly got her NATCH!!!  Here's the video of her NATCH runs plus an extra.  Here special skills class runs weren't that great, so they didn't make it in.  I'm so happy with how well she's been running lately, especially for so little practice on both ends.


Blue was silly (well, I was a crummy handler) and I didn't get that many runs on video, so here's a Chances.  She is such a goof at the end.  I could tell she was bouncing from behind.


She Qd 7/12 runs the whole weekend.  One of her Regulars was even a 102 dri run.  Sadly, I don't have that on video.  I didn't get much on video of her.  Gah, I wish my mom was still coming.  I feel so annoying have to ask different people to film.
 

Tru Qd 9/12 runs.  This video has an example of Tru finding the grass 'icky'.  I don't know what it was about that particular spot, but she does it outside the ring and will run around certain spots.  She's special.  I also trip on a tunnel.  gj me.

Long Time, No Post

In an effort to put off school work, I am deciding to bring this blog back to life.  Sometimes I wonder why I even keep this.  How many people actually read this blog?  Seriously?  I'm probably better off posting longer trial enteries to Tumblr. le sigh.  Prepare for lots of videos.  (And I noticed my last post dropped vids.  So weird.  I had to go back and add them in.)

Anyway, we've had quite a few trials since I last posted.  There was the UDAC NADAC in January.

Yes, I said goodbye to a TV show in a dog agility vid.  (And I just removed all my 'Chuck' links from my blog.) Cries forever.


Blue was exceptionally awesome at this trial and managed THREE bonus Qs and finish her Vers-NATCH 4.  Not much else to say.  This was after my first wee of school and I think she missed me.  XD


Not one of Tru's most Q filled trials, but she finished qualifying for Champs and got her O-ECC.  (She was also spunky and cute, like usual.)

In February, I entered Tru only in a trial up in Lake View Terrace.  A friend offered to bring her up and let me stay in their motor home with them.  That was interesting.  Tru was very chill for that whole experience and didn't seem to have any issues.  I don't remember how she did at this trial.  I think she got both Jumpers, a few Regulars, no Chances, finished her S-HP-O, and I'm sure there was another class.  Whatever.  OH, all the courses we ran were the ones we did at the JCAC trial in December.  I still find it funny when you get the same courses twice.  It started to rain towards the end of the day one day.  I don't remember which, though, haha.  I only managed to get a couple runs filmed and here's one.  Silly Tru.


Then we had PAC's NADAC in Ramona.  I moved Blue to Skilled and had her jump 8".  That was an, um, interesting, and completely new experience.   It's definitely going to take some adjustment to my timing.  She didn't Q at all on Saturday.  I also moved her to Open Weavers.  Gah, treating her like an old dog.  She doesn't act like it.


Sunday was better.  8" is almost like hoops for Blue.


Tru was awesome at this trial.   She really enjoys this location.  I wish there were more indoor/covered places we could trial at.  Also, SHE BROKE HER PATTERN!  Truly seemed to have this Q Chances/NQ Jumpers or NQ Chances/Q Jumpers thing going and she managed to Q both classes both days at this trial.

She had a lot of nice, smooth runs.


And as of this trial, her current NATCH progress is 22/23 Regulars, 12/13 Chances, and 12/13 Jumpers!  So, fingers crossed that she finishes at the next trial!  I noticed that judge at the next trial was, in fact, judge at Tru's first NADAC trial.  While I think it'd be fun to NATCH under a 'friend' judge, haha, this seems kind of poetic.  That's if she isn't insane from the lack of practice and seeing me and ends up NQing all her runs.  XD

We did a day of AKC the other weekend.  I entered just so we could meet someone I know from forums/youtube/Facebook that was visiting.  I entered both dogs, actually.  Blue ran in Nov. Preferred and was a little nut.  She was an adorable little nut, but still.  She didn't Q either run, haha.  She broke her start line in JWW and took an off course right away, but then impressed the crowd with her distance skillzzz.  In Standard she actually decided to chase an airplane (this is the location right by an airport where the planes end up quite low) mid run.  If I'd have made her do the obstacle she ran by, she still could have Qd, haha, but I didn't care.  She was having a ton of fun anyway.  (And it's not like we get to practice. What I'm seeing is that Blue still needs SOME practice if I still want her to do well.)  I'd like a start line if we go to Champs and I think we're going to crack down on that at the next NADAC trial.  Tru NQd her Ex A JWW run, but Qd in Open Standard.  AND SHE WENT DOWN THE MIDDLE OF A SLATTED A-FRAME!  I was so proud and surprised that I pushed her a little to hard  to the table (next obstacle) that she bounced right off, haha.  Well, I think she might be able to tolerate rubber slatted A-frames in small doses.  I still think if she was asked to do them frequently, she would eventually slow down.  She's lucky I don't care that much for other venues.

Sooo, that's what we've been up to lately.  I'm at school doing lots of school things, but I've been home just about every weekend this semester for one reason or another.  I stayed up this weekend, and last time I stayed up, I really started to miss the dogs part way through the second week.  We'll see how it goes this time.

Super late trial post...

For some reason, I just haven't really felt like taking the time to update this blog, hahaha. (Getting ready and heading to school, perhaps??)  I figured I should really do it since I had one started BEFORE we even got back from AZ in December and I will have a new trial to write about this weekend.  I'll start off with that post:

"We’re finally back from a(n over) weeklong stay in Phoenix. (Writing about the future in the past, hahahaha.)  It was filled with cold weather, tons of agility, and preparing for a Christmas party.  As I’ve probably written on this blog before, my grandparents all live in this area, so agility is an ‘excuse’ to come see them.  Well, it’s actually the other way around, but still.  Unfortunately this may be the last trip to see multiple grandparents, as my maternal grandmother is moving and my maternal grandfather recently passed away.  That just leaves one grandparent to come see on trips over.  My mom has also decided to retire Sirius, and really wants as little to do with agility as possible.  She’s way more interested in her school work (plants!), than in dog training.  And last, I’m going to be going to school several hours away from home and living on campus.  I love coming to AZ because one club offers a really, REALLY, good rate to JHs/full time college students and it’s more NADAC, but I don’t know when the next time I’ll get over is.

Guess I’ll talk about the ‘main’ trial now.  The dogs were great as usual.  Truly actually got more Qs than Blue at this trial, haha (6/13 for Blue and 8/13 for Truly). Friday afternoon was a mess with both dogs.  They ran a round of Weavers and Touch n Go.  Neither dog Qd either run.  Six hour car rides are not the best thing to do before an agility trial.  The dogs were both bonkers in Weavers.  Tru continued her NQ streak in Elite Weavers and Blue didn’t get those last Weavers and TnG Qs for her Vers-NATCH 4.

 I decided to try a bonus on TnG since we’d already NQd Weavers.  Why I do this to myself, I don’t know.  It actually didn’t seem like that bad of a line.  Blue got through the first 5 or so obstacles fine, but instead of switching to a tunnel, she decides to switch with a very, very wide turn to the entrance of the DW!  She did fairly well after that and only had one more mess up.   I tried the line with Tru as well and she just couldn’t send straight off the AF with me that far behind her.  Whycomingdown/offthesideofcontactsisnotgoodforbonuslines. Alsowhyitwouldbenicetopracticecontactsregularly.  I realized at this trial that it has probably been over a year since Tru has regularly practiced contacts.  I’m surprised she still has somewhat of a 2o2o.  She was self releasing all over the place this weekend, but at least she drove down to the bottom on most of them. 

Saturday was bound to go better and it did.  The dogs actually Qd some runs.  Blue was insane in Hoopers and didn’t Q, but got a Tunnelers, Jumpers, and Regular Q.  She made a silly mistake in the second Regular and could have had her NATCH 7 on that run.  She seemed to be moving really and doesn’t look like she is almost 10.  I didn’t notice her taking as many strides between jumps in Jumpers as I have lately.  Truly got another Regular and a Hoopers in addition to the Qs that Blue got.  Her first Jumpers run was GREAT.  She seems to finally be figuring out the 16” jumps.  Could be that it was nice and cold too, but I noticed her doing better at the last trial.  I know she’ll be much happier at 12”, though.  She actually knocked a bar on her second Jumpers run!  Oh, and there was one random silly thing I feel like sharing.  After Tru’s Tunnelers run, she was still running and headed right out of the ring towards our set up.  She came back, but on the way she felt the need to jump over the low hanging tape marking the ring boundary.  The clutz tripped on it and pulled the little tape holders down. 

Sunday threatened rain all day and finally gave in towards the end of the trial.  We ran the second round of Chances and Hoopers in the rain.  Blue and Tru both Qd a round  of Regular, a round of Chances and Hoopers.  Blue also earned her NATCH 7!!!!  I dunno if I want to stick around in Proficient for another trial to pick up those last Qs for her Vers-NATCH 4 or wait for a mini-trial/special skills only trial to pop up that I can enter as Proficient without dealing with the jumps.  Hmmm, I think they do special skills only before Champs…  Speaking of Champs, I think Blue is now fully qualified and Tru just needs 2 Weavers Qs.  I have also heard they are confirmed for South Jordan, UT!  I will be trying my hardest to go even though I have school.  That is such a reasonable drive compared to Gillette (or Springfield, haha).  And speaking of NATCHs, Tru is now 50 Jumpers pts, 40 Chances pts, and 70 Regular pts away from hers!

So, we had a day long break and were off to JCAC’s field to play EGC on Tuesday evening.  They offered 2 rounds of each EGC class over 3 nights.  Oh, my, gosh, did Truly have fun on that stuff.  She was hauling all 3 nights.  Maybe the fact that it was cold and dark helped, but one night she consistently ran faster than Blue, even when they both had clean/smooth runs.  I checked the EGC point list on the NADAC yahoo group, and it appears that Tru earned her Extreme Novice Gaters title.  She can’t move to Open yet, because apparently you need your Superior title to do that.  I’m not complaining.  That stuff is tricky.  All the Novice courses were 20 or more obstacles long.  My dogs did best at Extreme Hoopers, but I think that particular course was the ‘easiest’ out of the three sets we did AND the dogs didn’t need to do any ‘strange’ obstacles.  They all know how to do hoops (and sequences of hoops) already.  I would really, really, like to do some more.  There’s a group of us in my area that would like to start it up, but we wonder if there will be enough interest to keep it going.  I guess there’s always practicing and fun runs for personal enjoyment.   I know that Truly LOVES this stuff and I’d like to do more of what she really enjoys.  Blue likes ‘normal’ agility and everything involved with that.  She just does EGC (and Hoopers) to play more and because I ask her (and give her cookies).

The dogs' results were pretty good.  My dogs placed in every run they got points in.  Truly actually had the fastest time of the class in a couple rounds."

And I was pretty proud of Tru for doing that, haha.  She rarely ever beats Blue at anything, much less other dogs.  I don't know if there's much else to say.  Like I said, we've got a trial this weekend.  I'm going to see if I can do another trial with Tru in February in addition to our annual Ramona trial.  It mostly depends on who's going to that other trial and if someone can bring Tru up to it, since I'm in school now.

Movie/TV Reviews Round 5

I haven’t done one of these in a while.  I’ve watched quite a bit in the last couple months.

Lost:  I started watching this and haven’t finished.  I’m partway through the second season and it’s probably been a month or two since I last watched.  I guess that says something.  I’ve heard it’s really good, but it’s just so drawn out, I guess I kinda got distracted.  I really should start it up again.  I did find the characters and mysteries interesting, and the scenery on the island is gorgeous.  I had the show sitting in my Netflix queue for a long time, and hesitated to start because it’s so long.  Darn long American TV seasons....jk.  I like them when it’s a show I love.

Merlin:  Wooh, more BBC stuff.  Honestly, I’m not a ‘omg, British TV is the best evah’ person, but I seem to be consuming it regularly.  I like this show.  (I’m actually downloading the current season as it airs.  Shhhhh.)  Unimposing title character with secret powers, sign me up.  It does get a bit cheesy or ridiculous at times, but it’s okay if you just enjoy it for what it is.

Fringe:  I already posted about Fringe, but I got caught up and omg, a new favorite show.  I had to get seasons 2 and 3 as dvds off Netflix, so it took me a while to catch up, but I did.  I’m so sad it’s on winter hiatus now, I want to see what happens next.  It’s unfortunately a ‘bubble show’ like Chuck was, which means it’s chance for another season is up in the air due to ratings, but it’s on Friday, so what do you expect?  I don’t know how Fox works, but I know Chuck got away with low ratings because of fan/advertiser support and the fact that NBC kinda sucks anyway.  Chuck wasn’t that low compared to the rest of NBC’s shows.  I somehow doubt that Fox is in the same place as NBC, so I don’t know if any cards are stacked towards Fringe’s favor or not.  I think this show could explore a lot more places, if given the opportunity.  (And they can’t take my bb Walter away.)  I wonder if the low ratings have to do with the sort of 'reset' that was in the S3 finale?  It did affect a couple relationships in the show, particularly a romantic one.  Hmm.

Howl’s Moving Castle:  I’m not really into anime, but I figured I should give a Miyazaki film a look, and this was streamable.  I was pretty much bored though most of this movie.  The voices kinda weird me out since they were dubbed.  Am I the only one that thinks the voices don’t sound like they are coming out of the mouths right when they dub things?  The designs were pretty fantastic though, and that’s one thing I really thought I should watch for.

Peter and the Wolf:  Okay, so this is a stop motion film that I watched because it came up as a suggestion and was short.  Very, very neat little film.  I loved all the animal models and mannerisms in this.  It also has no dialog, but still keeps your attention.  I would recommend watching it if you have Netflix and like that sort of thing, especially since it’s only about 30 mins long.

Grimm:  I started watching this on Hulu because I was bored.  I think I might keep watching (on Hulu of course, since it's on at the same time as Fringe and Fringe>Grimm).  Obviously the 'omg, weird power and confused person' thing got me, even though the main character is pretty bland.  The reformed 'big bad wolf' character is freaking hilarious though, and probably the best character.  There are also monsters it so I'm good.  Now that I think of it, the monster thing applies to Merlin a bit as well.

Supernatural:  I kinda just watched what was on the CW.com the other day because I was bored, but hear about the show on Tumblr all the time.  I don't really want to deal with getting it from Netflix one disc at a time and don't really want to download it.  Plus, I'd have to wait for the beginning of this season since I missed it.  (I think it's on at the same time as Fringe as well.)  I don't know how interested I am in it.  Might be a little scary/gory for me.  I still need to watch the latest episode, but it sounds sad.

Voyage of the Dawn Treader:  Yeah, I got this from Neflix and finally watched it after having it a month.  I never saw it in the theater, although I should have supported the series.  I’m not sure if they’re continuing or not, but I always believed that the Chronicles of Narnia were ideally suited to be movies, since the cast changes every couple of books, haha.  I thought it was good and the end was very moving.  OMG, creature designs.  The dragon, heck yes!  (I actually read VotDT first because I heard it had a dragon in it, back in 5th grade, haha.)  The sea serpent!  I said, ‘It’s awesomesauce,’ out loud and my mom’s reaction was, ‘what?’

Jekyll:  I just finished this in the last couple of days.  Steven Moffat and modern adaptations of old stories, why not give it a shot right? (And it’s only 6 episodes long.)  I have no expectations for most of this stuff, so I enjoyed it.  I’ve actually read Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and liked it, and I didn’t care that this wasn’t a direct re-telling of the story.  It seems a lot of people didn’t care much for the end and I have to say the last couple of eps did seem a little convoluted to me.  Things were brought up, sorta explained then dropped.  The actor for Jackman/Hyde was great though and his performance was brilliant.  I’d have to warn for swearing though, they use the ‘f-word’ quite a bit, but mostly referring to sex, and not just cussing.  Hyde can be kind of frightening too, so just don’t let little kids watch, haha.

Then there's always the shows that have come back from summer break: Psych and Chuck and then Doctor Who came back in August, finished up, and went on break.

UDAC NADAC 11/18-20/11

The dogs and I had an awesome time at our first NADAC trial that was just us. My mom has decided to stop running Sirius at most of the trials and she also wants to do other things. I had to drive by myself for about 50 miles and through some switchbacks on a mountain at 5:30 in the morning and go home in the dark on Friday. I'm not the most confident driver, but I got to the trial and back fine. Well, on Friday night I was pulling out of the trial location and it was a one way driveway and a neighbor was pulling in off the road as I was going up the driveway. I ended up backing down and into his big, heavy, white, wood fence. I guess he didn't care because I sat there for a while and he didn't come over. I didn't see any damage to the fence the next morning and my care just has a white mark on the back bumper.

There were three runs on Friday afternoon, two Hoopers (strategic and numbered) and a round of Weavers. It was nice and cool and cloudy and getting dark. Perfect doggie weather. My dogs were just flying. I was really impressed with Truly's speed. She hauled butt in Hoopers. She ended up with the fastest time in Open and Elite strategic Hoopers. (They're the same course.) I think that's the first time she's been the fastest in the class, haha. She Qd both Hoopers and finished her O-HP-O. Blue Qd both Hoopers as well, and I think she needs one more for her Superior Elite title. Most of the clubs around here haven't been holding Hoopers, so I figured I should do it when I can. Oh, and both dogs probably finished the Hoopers requirement for Champs (as long as it's the same as the last couple years).

We had a different judge that day who could judge bonus lines, and there was one in Weavers that night. It looked like a very nice line course and I really wanted to try it, but Blue 1) is older, so I didn't think doing a Weavers line in the dark was the nicest thing to do to her, 2) she needs just a few more Qs for her Vers-NATCH 4. So, I tried it with Truly, haha. Screw the fact that we haven't Qd at all in Elite Weavers (been running in it since May). She was so awesome! We didn't Q, since I didn't give her the cue to come in soon enough and she took an off course tunnel at the back of the ring. It was so me, I start to mess up when my dogs are doing great and don't get my commands out fast enough. She even got all her weaves and did an extra set! She was over half way though the course before I screwed up. Oh my gosh. Maybe one day Tru and I will be able to do this. (It just needs to be dark and cold, haha.) Blue Qd with a nice, smooth run.

Well, Blue did pretty well the rest of the weekend. She Qd 9 more runs and was her happy, spunky, self. She was so crazy on Saturday. She had some unusually wild contacts. I'm surprised she hit the contact on her Regular round one AF and the judge didn't call it unsafe or something. So, she got one Regular leg, a Chances, a Touch n Go, and a Weavers. Oh, my goodness. Weavers. That had to be our most interesting experience of the day. It's pretty much explained in the video below.


I forgot to mention that a dog before us actually came out limping. Why no one went to check it after that, I don't understand.

She was much less hyper on Sunday. I went down to get stuff ready to go, and Blue was still in bed with my parents, while the others were downstairs. Then I fed them, and she went back upstairs with my parents. She also crashed as soon as she got in the car Saturday evening. She was still moving though. She Qd both Regulars, TnG, a Jumpers, and Tunnelers. She only needs 1 more TnG and one more Weavers for her Vers-NATCH and 2 more Regulars for her NATCH-7. Then it's Skilled time! (And probably moving to Open/Novice Weavers.) Blue's still the best dog, though. I'm really enjoying these last few trials before I go to school. It's gonna be hard not seeing her every day.



Truly didn't do nearly as good as Blue. She was just so crazy from the weather and we aren't quite as in sync, since we don't normally practice at that speed/craziness. Well, haven't practiced much at all in the last month. I don't think we've practiced at the field since before the last trial! She Qd one run on Saturday, and 4 on Sunday. The only special skills class she Qd in was Tunnelers. Oh, my, gosh, Tunnelers. It was the last class of the weekend and it finally started to rain on us. It was a fairly short course, but I didn't know how she'd do in the rain. Well, she ran it smooth and in 7.4 yps, with a 111 DRI. Geez. Blue did 7.7, with an 111 DRI (that's the max number, haha). Good girls! Even though she wasn't Qing that much, she was giving me some great distance.

Truly and Blue were both pretty naughty with their start line stays this weekend. I know with Truly it's because she was just so happy about the weather. I noticed on Sunday she was being better about them, and was even really dopey when the sun came out for a bit before Jumpers. I didn't even lead out that much pretty much ran with her. Then she was back to being eager the next Jumpers. I felt like I should have just been sticking her back or whatever and I wouldn't have had the issue, but I wanted the Qs/fun, and I'm just going to work on more self-control and staying with both of them at home/practice. I swear this is really only an issue in 'Truly weather.' Otherwise she just melts on the start line. Blue, well, she's almost 10 and I'm not going to bother with her on the start line at trials, haha.





I'm definitely going to try and get out to practice more before our next trial, which is our usual December Phoenix trial. I recently found out that club was doing EGC at night during the week we are staying and flipped out. I'm am totally entering (as long as it's not full). Truly and Blue will be doing it, although I think that Truly will appreciate this way more than Blue. I think EGC is Truly's true calling, haha. It sucks that there probably aren't enough people interested around me to make it worthwhile to put on an EGC trial. I have several NADAC friends that are interested in it, but I don't know.

Oh, and happy Thanksgiving everyone!

ACSD NADAC Oct. 8-9, 2011

Well, it's been a while since I posted anything, haha. (I bet I always say that.) Anyway, we had a trial this past weekend. It was at a new location that, while a little cramped (it's at someone's home) and kinda warm, was nice. We've been waiting for this field to open for a loooongg time. Anyway, the dogs were great. Well, my dogs were. Sirius was really, really freaked out and my mom is basically going to stop running her. She won't fully stop, but just not do as much.

Blue was great and only missed Qs on two runs. One was from a bonus attempt in Jumpers and the other a strange knocked bar in Chances. That thing dropped way after she had landed and was going to another jump. After I watched the vid (while at the trial) I thought maybe I hit the base with my foot. When I saw it on a bigger screen, it doesn't seem to be the case. I thought I wasn't that close to the jump. XD

Anyway, she got a bonus Q in Touch N Go!!! She was one redirect away from another TnG bonus, but still. Yay! I'm so happy that Blue is almost 10 years old and still out running so well and enjoying it. She's such an awesome dog. I can't wait to run her in Double Digit Vet at Champs next year. (Probably said that already.) She still can kick ass. She earned a lot of 90 DRIs and even got a 100 in Tunnelers. I was watching one dog that recently moved to Skilled Vet run, and thought, 'Dang, that's what it's gonna be like when Blue moves to Skilled.' XD I can't wait to see her jumping 8" at a trial. Speaking of moving to Skilled only 5 more Regulars for NATCH 7. Although, I actually checked her points for the special skills classes and she (now) only needs 3 Weavers and 3 TnGs for her Vers-NATCH 4. I didn't think were would even be that close before I planned to mover her to Skilled.

Oh, and I let my mom run her in Weavers on Saturday. She actually did pretty well and even Qd (although it was just barely under time, haha). I don't know why she was weaving so slow. Mom said she started to freak out a little when Blue actually ran ahead of her, lmao.

Truly was really good at this trial too! She Qd 8/12 runs and earned her TN-E and TG-E. All her Qs were smooth runs as well, which I was really proud of. Maybe it was the courses, maybe it was that I'm finally getting my timing down. Her contacts were, uh, more consistent at this trial than the last one. They weren't the greatest, but at least she was putting her front feet on the ground before leaving. I messed around with her on a contact board a few days before the trial. Maybe that helped? Maybe it's just that she actually trialed about a month ago and it wasn't 3 months between trials.

We've got two trials lined up for November and our usual AZ trial in December. Yay for more fun with my girls. I feel like these are going to be a little bittersweet for me. I'm going to 'go away' (a couple hours lol) for school in January. Basically I won't be seeing my dogs every day for several months. I can still trial and come home to see and practice with them on weekends. It's not like I won't have summer soon, too. So, yeah.

PAC NADAC Aug. 2011

Long time, no trial. Seriously, it's been months since we trialed. The last 'trial' we did was the Purina Incredible Dog Challenge. We haven't been doing that much practice since it's been warm. Mostly chilling at the beach or home or going for walks. School just started so now I've got that 4 days a week.

Anyway, the trial was tons of fun, even if I was tired on Sunday. This trial was held at the same trial site last year, which is right next to an airport, if you don't remember. Staying overnight is not fun for people. Blue finds the airplanes fun, though, if you recall. She did seem to care less and less, since we had her out the day before the trial just wandering around AND the night we hung out for the judges dinner.

Blue has been so adorable lately. OMG, I can't get over her sometimes. Maybe it's the thought of her not being around all the time that's bothering me. (I may be going away to school sooner, rather than later.) It's really hard to believe she'll be 10 in January. Here we come Double Digit at NADAC Champs!

Blue Qd 6/10 runs: one Jumpers, one Chances, two Regulars, Touch n Go and Tunnelers. She finished her Vers-NATCH 4 requirements in Tunnelers. Unfortunatly she's not even half way to that in TnG and just to that point in Weavers. I almost always screw around with lines in the special skills classes since their short and the tunnels encourage Blue to go fast. I have a major brag for her in TnG. She got her second ever 100 DRI run! Blue hasn't gotten one of those since 2008. Needless to say, we never had hopes of a Versatility PSS, haha. Blue's still got it.

Now to some bonus-y stuff. We only tried two lines. One was in Jumpers on Saturday and one was in Chances on Sunday. Lately, I've seen a definite difference in speed from her while working far away when we practice (and at trials). The last trial we did (May, JCAC), she was 'normal', which is moving at her usual speed. For at least a couple years, we've gone through phases of doing distance stuff 'slow.' It's probably my fault with a combination of doing too much, 'correcting' the wrong way, and horrible handling.

Anyway, she was really rather unsure about doing the whole distance thing on Saturday. She needed to send all the way to the back of the ring, which was just four jumps in a row. There was a jump off to the side after the third one and she decided to take that. I probably handled it wrong, but she had been a little unsure on the Tunnelers run before when I sent her, which was odd. So, I took it as a hint she didn't really feel like it and ran 'with' her the rest of the runs that day. (Well, the rest of the lines were in Regular and she needs those for her NATCH-7. Oh, yeah, only 6 more to go now!)

So on Sunday, I saw a Chances bonus (that had two point options, actually!) and went "AWWWW YEAH." Blue's best bonus class is Chances, so I figured why not. I made sure to practice a little distance in Regular after she had messed up. One round actually had a similar set up and sequence to something in the Chances course, so I made sure to try that from a little further away. She had good speed on the pieces I did, which made me happy (because it means she was happy and my handling was decent).

We didn't quite get it, but Blue was totally normal during the whole run and even went on after we messed up right at the beginning. I was surprised that I could actually handle the part I thought I would mess up. Yay me!



So, Truly did the same as Blue and got 6 Qs out of 10 runs. She Qd both Jumpers (which means she got her EJC!) , 2 Regulars, Tunnelers and Touch n Go. That means 15 more Regulars, 9 more Jumpers and 6 more Chances to NATCH. LOL, it probably seems so far for some people, but it doesn't seem like that many more Qs to me. I don't know if I'm more excited for her to get the title or for what I have planned for after that milestone. It's weird.

She was really flying some runs this trial. I think she looks way too fast at the beginning of her Tunnelers run, haha. If I recall correctly, she was only a couple hundredths of a second slower than Blue that run. Crazy. I was really pushing her for speed after she had a mistake on course to hopefully make up time so we wouldn't be over. I know if Tru has more than one mistake she most likely wont make time. Those little legs aren't quite fast enough for 16" Proficient Elite time and a ton of bobbles.

Anyway, I let her have really crappy contacts this weekend, at least on the AF. Her dog walk wasn't totally in the 'right' position, but I kinda wanted to train a 4 on anyway, haha. She never practices contacts, and it probably shows. I could gripe about how I don't have access to non-slatted equipment again (other than my own homemade AF), but I'll spare you. So, yeah, no trials for months + no contact training= crummy contacts. OH, and if I waited for her to get into position on both contacts, she'd probably end up over time, especially if she has one other miscommunication on a jump or something. It's crazy. I don't think Tru's slow, so I don't get it, but whatever, we're not leaving NADAC. I'm thinking I'll eventually train running anyway. Running contacts might actually help with the distance work eventually and cut down her times.

She also got to try that Chances bonus. I tried from the 15 pt line with her (Blue did the 20) and she got half way through the course and decided to hesitate and look at my mom filming. She's had that issue before, but mostly when my mom was in ring. I guess we're going to have to figure out some way to get over that. She kept going to the AF (next obstacle), but came in after that. I guess I'd been letting her do that all weekend, but I think she kind of had a brain fart after looking at my mom, so I'm going to use that excuse for now. Right now I'm really thinking about pulling our AF out and working on it in the next few weeks. Don't need no coming off the sides. :/

So yeah, I was mostly concerned about my timing for the hoop 180 thing towards the handler that was part of that course TWICE. It seems I didn't have a problem with it, because my dogs got it all the times they did it. I figured that tunnel would be so inviting, but my timing must have been right for once, yay! Maybe we're getting somewhere. I still think I might have found a little sequence to practice, though, just because I was concerned about it. (That and contact/tunnel sends.)



We don't have a trial in the area that we're for sure entering until October. Everything else around here is AKC, and I don't know if I really want to enter that right now, since it's so hot and Tru would be the only one to enter. Other than that, we've got at least 3 trials planned for November/December. We're hoping to get at least one more trial in, but that's really not for sure. In the mean time, we get to practice and play.

More TV/Movie Stuff

Yeah, I'm so gonna write some random reviews at 12 am.

Prince of Persia: I barely paid attention to this. I was working on sculptures and stuff and not watching. I do this all the time. I just like the noise. So, yeah, the visuals were cool. Um, I can't really remember much else.

Fringe: I started watching Fringe on WB.com. I'd seen it recommended for me on Netflix and then a friend said they started watching and liked it. I'm liking it. The slightly paranormal/sci-fi angle appeals to me. There are probably so many other shows like Fringe that I'd find interesting, but one at a time, I guess. I do think it's a little graphic for me sometimes. So, people that are squeamish at the sight of nasty human bodies might be sick a few times, haha. Anyway, I think Walter Bishop is my favorite character. I think they've got the first two seasons on WB.com, but they rotate episodes every week, so I'm waiting to see if that's what they've got. Then I'll have to get the third season on Netflix. Maybe I can get caught up before the new season starts.

Tangled: I've been meaning to watch this for a while and it was in the Netflix queue, but then it appeared on instant play! Wooh! So, I watched it today and found it quite enjoyable for a Disney princess flick. No, it has nothing to do with Zac Levi voicing a character. *sarcasm* Yes, I totally watched just to listen to Zac. The visuals are amazing. It's crazy what they can do with animation now days.

I probably shouldn't do these so late, but I rarely have much to say anyway, so I guess that doesn't matter. Agility trial this weekend! NADAC! Yay!

So, I just finished watching Series 1 of 'Sherlock'

AND WHAT WAS UP WITH THAT ENDING?!?! OMG, most annoying cliffhanger ever. (Other than maybe Chuck S2's 'Guys, I know kung-fu,' but that was because we didn't know the fate of the show yet.) I liked it and depending on what I hear of next series, I'll consider watching it whenever it's on here or Netflix gets it. Unfortunately, it seems it wont even return until 2012. Geez. Also, the fandom for that show generally scares me. I've been considering watching it for months, but the crazies put me off. XD Oh, and I adored the soundtrack. It kind of reminded me of the recent Shelock Holmes movie's soundtrack, which I liked. Yeah. This has been a lame little review by Rebecca.

Movie/TV Reviews Round 3

Yep, it's my movie/TV review time again.

Heroes Season 2: Ehhh, it was short. It's been a while since I watched and don't really remember much of what I thought. I think I actually caught quite a bit of this when it was on TV. Stupid messing with time stuff and paradoxes and everything that bothers me. I think I watched the first ep of S3 and it's definitely a direct continuation of what was happening in the previous season, almost like one long season. Hm, since I seem to have found it so forgettable, that's not a good thing. I don't know if I think it was horrible, but it wasn't that great. I don't know if I mentioned this before, but I think an issue that Heroes has is that there are so many characters running around and things get dropped or take for ever to develop. I dunno. Maybe at some point I will finish Season 3, but I really don't think I will go back and watch S4, haha.

How to Train Your Dragon: I thought this was adorable, and it probably has to do with the fact that it has dragons and the dragon displayed a lot of dog like behaviors. As I was watching the movie, it almost felt like some sort of positive animal training promotion. XD As I said, I really like that Toothless's behaviors and mannerisms were based on real animals'. It made him believable and showed me how animal behavior can be applied in character creation. The scenery was also gorgeous.

San Diego Comic Con 2011!

Well, I had a fun, awesome, busy, disappointing, fantastic time at SDCC this year. I actually took pics, which I don't think I took many of last year.

This year I did four days. I was so freaking tired after each day and was never even rested when I got up the next morning. I'm still a little out of it to be honest. Anyway, I'll go over a little that happened every day.

Thursday: Hung out with friends cosplaying the 10th Doctor and Rose. I have to say I could figure out what a lot more costumes were this year. I recognized ones from Firefly and of course Doctor Who (So. Many. Elevens.). I even saw a Ned and Chuck from Pushing Daisies at one point. We didn't go to any panels and just browsed the Exhibit Hall. We went to lunch at a restaurant that sold 'sammiches', lol. Oh, and we went to a Doctor Who cosplay meet up. That was fun.


Comic-Con is odd. You can just become 'friends' with people dressed as someone in the same fandom as you. Our group picked up another 'Rose' towards the end of the day. It's so fun to just talk with nerds you don't know. This year I really felt like this was 'the internet in real life.' There were fan-girls flipping out over my friends costume and I was catching glimpses of artists whose work I'd seen online.

Oh, and I took my Critter and some (older) dude came over to take a photo. He was complimenting me on my skills. As he walked away he said that he "used to make props for Star Trek...if that means anything." That made my day. (Well, it's probably the highlight of the weekend.)

Friday: MOAR walking. Walking, walking, walking. That's all you do. Anyway, I don't know if this was as eventful, but it was more hanging out with friends. We walked to the mall for lunch. (And saw another 10th Doctor eating there. XD) I got a poster for Cowboys and Aliens signed by the screenwriters. Cool.

Saturday: And the beginning of my disappointment. I was an idiot and decided to draw pictures of the Chuck cast to try to get signed. I finished the last new drawing on Friday night and figured I'd get up early to print them. Apparently I didn't get up early enough. My printer was being odd and then I had to wait for my brother to get dressed up. So anyway, we got there at about 8:40 or so and the line for Ballroom 20 and the Chuck panel was not quite as long as this. It was about to where the first couple of trees are next to the water. That probably wasn't even half of the line. I wish I had a pic of the front.

So I decided I'd rather stand in line for autograph wristbands. Last year WB just had people line up and you had to get lined up while the panel was going, heh. This year they had people draw tickets for a wrist band like all the other signings at Comic-Con. Well, we got to the point where there were about 4 people in front of us and they drew the last wristband ticket. :( I had hoped I might see Zac Levi at his Nerd HQ event, but no luck. Nerd HQ was honestly very meh unless you were a gamer or had tickets to a 'Conversation'. I finally got a Nerd Machine shirt though, so yay!

I saw several people from school and went to a Steampunk gathering. My brother was kind of dressed steampunk. Steampunk is cool.


Sunday: Oh, I was so out of it and had no idea what I wanted to do on Sunday. My brother wimped out and didn't come. I decided to browse pretty much the whole exhibit hall that I hadn't seen closely. I got a few freebies and bought a book I'd been meaning to get. (And for only a couple dollars more than I would have paid on Amazon!) I stopped by Nerd HQ a couple more times. AND THEN there was another Doctor Who cosplay meetup thing and I took lots of pictures. I just wanted to see all the cool costumes. This was such a Doctor Who filled CC for me. I am just obsessed right now.

the silly group shot

Anyway, I think I won't do all four days next year. One, the price is going up. Two, it's a lot to handle. I really liked going with friends and hanging out and think I might want to try a costume next year. (More than a jacket, bag and critter.) I also want to try to put something in the art show. I was really regretting not signing up for any of the Nerd HQ 'Conversations for a Cause.' They sounded really fun, but I wanted to hang out with friends instead. So that was my Comic-Con experience this year. Oh, and if you want to see some more photos, check them out here.

Wordless Wednesday

Movie/TV Reviews Round 2

Ooh, I feel like 'reviewing' some stuff I've watched recently.

Doctor Who: I've already mentioned that I liked this. A lot. New obsession. We'll see how long this lasts. (I have a t-shirt. O:) There are certain things I could do with out in the new series, but over all, it's good. I enjoy watching classic series episodes as well, although some can be a bit slow (this is okay if you just want some background noise and aren't really watching. XD). I've pretty much liked every Doctor and I don't know if I could pick a favorite. They are all the Doctor. I do have a little beef with Series 5. They got to the point where they were using time travel in a way that I find annoying. (Going into their own timeline and fixing/doing stuff. Blah.) It was also a bit more tightly knit story line wise. I never really got the feeling all the stories were totally connected in earlier seasons. It's not bad, I just found it interesting. Series 6 seems to be going in the same direction, but I am eagerly awaiting S6 part two in September.

Tron/Tron Legacy: I remember seeing the original Tron several years ago when my mom rented it from the library. Watching it again, it's rather slow. The story was interesting and the world was awesome, even though the CG was early. I think I can say the same thing for the new movie. It's been a month since I watched it, so I'm trying to remember what I thought after it. I think it was pretty much the same sort of pace as the first one, just with better visuals and maybe more action. I still think they were good. I think the designs are something of vastly greater interest to me than the story or other content of the movies.

Inception: This was interesting. I don't know if it was really to my taste, but I'm glad I saw it. I knew something about the end being open and it is really unclear what happened. It was nice to see an original action movie. I was amazed at how they edited all the scenes towards the end of the movie and managed to keep you up to speed.

Hellboy: I watched this on instant for the creature design, and didn't pay that much attention while I drew or whatever. Couldn't really hold my attention that well, but the creatures were epic. I like snarly beast thingies. Again, I enjoyed the fact that a lot of the creatures were mostly practical (at least they looked mostly practical). Seeing 'real' creatures almost makes me want to go into that, but then I think "Oh, it's a lot of physical work." XD

Heroes Season 1: I think I caught bits and pieces of Heroes on air, until part way though S3 when I started watching somewhat regularly because I discovered the Sybrows (Zachary Quinto's eyebrows). No, I'm serious, I started watching Heroes because his eyebrows where the biggest I'd ever seen. I watch through the end of S4. I never really thought to go back and watch the first season until I was reminded of it by someone. I'd always heard it was the best season and only really great one. I guess I'd agree, but I don't think it was exceptional. I think it dragged on with some story lines and found myself getting frustrated with how long something took. I also think there were waaay too many characters. I'm sure glad I didn't have to wait to see what happened next. I think some of the 'dragging on' has to do with the fact that the last few shows I've watched have had 13-14 episode seasons, so maybe I'm on a quicker pattern.

I haven't started watching S2. I'm not totally sure I really want to. I am kind of interested to see what happens, though and if it really is as bad as internet people make it out to be. Plus, I'm diggin the Sybrows again and need some more in my life, haha.

Wordless Wednesday

What happened at the PIDC

You probably would have heard me blabbing right away if we won. XD The agility is up on barknetwork now, so if you'd like to see our runs, go there. I dunno if I will even bother putting them up on YT. Well, maybe I will.

Anyway, Blue and I placed 3rd, yippee! (barknetwork's results say Truly got third, haha!) We don't have to go to Purina Farms this year and I didn't have to do an interview. My parents are sick of going with me to dog events (I think I've said this before), so I would have had to figure out some other way of getting there. (Like is happening with NADAC Champs.) I'm happy for the winners and hope they go have fun in St. Louis.

As for Blue's runs, she had a very nice first run. Only a slight bobble coming out of the tunnel under the DW. I called her just a little too hard. Second one was awful. I felt so bad making her run. She started shaking her head right as she went into the first tunnel and pulled off the weave poles. She pulled of some other stuff later, and I just went on. We were the last team to run, so we were already in third place for sure, so I was like, no need to go back out. (I'm dreading that run being aired. I wish it didn't turn out like that.) Poor dog. I was holding out hope that morning that her ears would be better, and she was fine all morning until just before our first run. >.<

Tru got to go play on Sunday. They had a demo show because the fair asked them to and it was just a fun exhibition thing. Truly was so crazy the first couple of runs. She didn't have the benefit of practicing for two days before like the other dogs. After the first two shows we went in the ring and practice between the shows (there were three demos). She did so good on the last run after doing a bit of practice. She missed the AF all three runs. On the first two, I brought her back and she did them. On the last one she said, 'Heck no' and we just went on. Smart dog. She had been clean and smooth up to that point. She is such a baby dog and this was a good experience. I know a bit more how she will react to a 'big' event or just one with more things going on than a normal trial. Also, Tru looks so much better at 12".

Anyway, no trials scheduled until late August (NADAC). I dunno if I will enter any AKC trials, since Tru would be the only one going. My mom keeps talking about going to a CPE trial, but we'll see.