Thursday, June 17, 2010

Extreme Poodles





Oh my gawd!
Awhile ago I posted these super silly pictures of poodles that had been groomed into fantastical creatures and other animals, such as a panda, or camel.......

Last night on TLC, they aired the back story reality show about this poodle pagent and the groomers who created their doos!

So two things;

1. W and I aren't the only crazy poodle obsessed freaks who think their poodle is human.

2. Poodles ARE the best dog EVER! I don't care what you say.....

W and are are constantly coiffing pepe and putting hats on him, and I squeal with delight almost every time I walk into Pepe's groomers which is usually FULL of poodles, all sizes all colors, I forget how happy it makes me every time, until I get there.

The show is actually similar to "Toddlers & Tiaras" except less creepy, cause it's poodles who are cute and fluffy, not evil white trash children and their hideous parents.

Extreme Poodles, is more about the crazy poodle owners than the actual poodles. All of whom are actual "Dog Groomers" by trade, who are all obsessed with their poodles.

As much as I loved the woman from Oklahoma who coiffed her standard poodle named"Falcor" in to a lion...
My favorite poodle was "Jet", who was carefully coiffed in to a female "Roller Derby" player, complete with helmet and skates. Unfortunately Jet's Roller Derby Drag doo didn't get him a trophy, he definately should have won "Best Personality"
Jet's human is bat shit crazy, but you could tell she loves that dog more than anything else on the planet, and I secretly loved her for that.
The best part of the whole show is the finale where the dogs and their owners present their finished masterpieces with music, dance and costumes. It was better than most performance art for sure!

My other favorite was 2 poodles who's fur was carved into HR Geiger-esque like alien creatures.

And of course the judges are groce and weird, but thats par for the course.
The best part is this "Extreme Poodle" contest is that it's held every year in Pasadena! Holla!!

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

The importance of cheese knives......








As I have gotten older, the importance of certain things have been revealed to me....of course with these revelations comes the acceptance of my age. Items I thought were important when I was 18 are not the same items I think are of necessary importance at 40.
Some of these including; cheese knives, caviar spoons, a large purse, a Gardner.......and tea cosies (or sometimes spelled cozies)

Long before Mercado's existence, I bought this felted chicken tea cosy as a Christmas gift for W. She was not as excited about it as I was. (Later, I admitted that I really bought it for myself under the guise of a "Christmas present", this was back in "05 when we had the luxury of buying each other and ourselves things we didn't really need.) Immediately upon opening it that Christmas morning she said "wow, a chicken hat" and placed it on her head.......

I like objects made out of felt, and I love chickens, this tea cosy bridged modern aesthetics, and hand crafting to a level that I had not seen before. I didn't care that it was functional. It was a an amazing modern felted, interpretation of a chicken, and it was black.... hat, tea cosy, whatever....it was coming home with me.

The other morning, (years later), W had woke up before me and made our morning tea. (we quit coffee 6 months ago) As I shuffled through the kitchen, I was jolted into an unusual early morning squeal of excitement! "ahhh the chicken cozy!!!"
W-"giggle, yea it keeps the tea pot really hot"
C-"really?"
W-"yea we can make a whole pot of tea and it won't get cold so fast."
C-"genius"

So tea cosy is added to the famous "things I used to think were stupid, but now realize the importance of..." list.

" With all the chatter at teatime the teapot would get cold, which would have at times cut short some tea parties. And so, the tea cosy came about. Tea cosies then flourished during the late 1800s, where they appeared in many households across Britain, motivated by the obsession of decorating and covering objects characteristic of the Victorian era."



hmmm.."obsession of decorating and covering objects"....



.... well waking up to my 100% merino wool, hand felted out of one piece of felt, imported from Germany chicken cosy, makes me really happy!


Mercado sells bunny and sheep cosies, but no chickens.

Sunday, June 6, 2010

The Poodle Trainer




In this intimate portrait of destiny, passion, and loss, Irina Markova, a solitary Russian poodle trainer, reveals her transcendent relationship with her dogs, the childhood tragedy that sparked a lifetime of working with animals, and the welcome isolation behind the red velvet curtains of the circus.




Russian circus costumes and poodles....... genius!
Related Posts with Thumbnails