A Racist Dawg? Is that even possible??

We went out to a movie!

With Freddie!!

For the first time since Freddie arrived!!!

(We've made some good progress in getting Freddie accustomed to staying by himself, so we could, in theory, go to a movie without him ... but it's better if he can come along.)

Anyway, it was a matinée of The Grand Budapest Hotel, and we were undoubtedly the only people in the theatre who didn't think it was a super-fabulous movie ... but that didn't matter. Freddie managed to lie quietly for 110 minutes + previews! (And Jeff Goldblum had a starring role, which would make pretty much any movie worth seeing.)

It's Paul's birthweek!

One of his gifts was a selection of spiced nuts from this place (right and below): Ayoub's Dried Fruit and Nuts. Yummy wares and groovy ambience.

Oh, and speaking of birthday events, Action Andy (aka Dad) turns the Big 8-0 tomorrow — that's cause for chandeliers!

Madonna of the Seed Racks

Freddie and I went to the garden store for organic pesticide to combat the little creepy things that have infested one of the otherwise thriving shrubs on our balcony.

Speaking of household pests, there's been no sign of Bhangra since I moved the anti-mouse device to the kitchen (though watch her appear right after I hit "publish").

Labradoodle Meets Ficus

Just another zennish morning in Pacific Spirit Park ...

Spot the dog!

Beach Art: a furniture installation down at Spanish Banks

 

Forest Art

I really dig coffee. Almost as much as I dig chocolate. This photo is here to remind me that even though most west-side coffee joints close stupidly early I could, if I really wanted, go out for a cappuccino at midnight.

But anyway ... to get to the matter of my post title ...

A couple of evenings ago, Freddie and I went down to the big lawn next to Kits Beach to watch the world go by (and practice ignoring other dogs and skateboards). It was busy, with lots of people (and dogs) to-ing and fro-ing nearby. Freddie did quite well with the dogs. No skateboards came close, so I can't report any progress or deterioration in that department.

At regular intervals, however, he went squirrelly bananas — lunging, barking, being an idiot, as far as I was concerned — at the sight of certain people. Not all people — just some.

None of these sunbathers interested him much.

Babies sometimes catch his attention ... but not this one.

Anyway, it didn't take long for me to realize that all the people Freddie was barking at were Asian. And they were all, as it happened, part of an ESL language-school group that was setting up a picnic nearby.

But there were other picnic groups nearby (Caucasian ones), and Freddie didn't seem to give a woof about them.

I thought: WTF, Freddie?! We live in an Asian city. Most of my students are Asian. What's your problem?

I wondered if he's been somehow restraining his xenophobic impulses during English 1107 class. I wondered if he would launch a vicious attack if I accidentally lost my grip on his leash.

Then it hit me. Yeah, these people were Asian. But they were also something a whole lot more interesting to Freddie: YOUNG. As in late teens, early 20s young ... laughing and bouncing and exuding Labradoodle-ish energy in everything they did. I looked around again. Everyone else in the immediate vicinity was 25+ and/or lying comatose in the sun.

I knew at that point what would happen if I were to let go of the leash. So when two of the youngsters drifted away from their group and started waving at Freddie, that's just what I did (after asking them if they like dogs).

Kisses and play bows and much frolicking ensued.

So it appears that while Freddie is probably ageist, he's not racist.

Phew!