Suzanne Vega

Suzanne Vega
Originally uploaded by Szczur

I was lucky enough to catch a free concert whilst on a week long visit to Kolobrzeg on the Polish coast. The headline performer was Suzanne Vega and the concert was great. The only problem was a power cut that affected much of the town and, sadly, shut down the show during "Tom's Diner". Luckily this was the last planned song (at least according to the technicians) so there wasn't much lost.

I thought it was about time I posted another of Frodo's travel pictures. As you will recall, Frodo is not a Hobbit in this instance but my Mother-in-Law's dog. He has a knack for turning up in odd places and a still odder manner of finding someone around to document it.

This time, ol' Frodo has been to the Antarctic, to Weddell Sea to be exact. The penguins are, he says, all very friendly though they all seem to be called Horace which only serves to compound his confusion at their unvarying appearance.

A couple of days ago, a Polish plane crashed in Russia killing the Polish President, his wife, 86 other functionaries including all the military chiefs (Chief of Staff and Commanders of the Army, Navy and Air Force) various politicians and clergymen and aides of all kinds, besides all that, 8 crew members. 96 folks in all, a real tragedy. According to the local newspapers, folks on the internet are cashing in - selling black t-shirts with tasteless slogans, or odd internet domain names. OK, I know that's all in poor taste but wait.... what about the journalists who spent time looking for such things in order to complain about them loudly in the pages of their respective publications? Who stands to make more money? The guy selling shirts or the guy selling papers about guys selling shirts? Hmm? Who is the lowest slime? The guy cashing in on other folks' misfortune or the guy drawing everyone's attention to him when normally nobody would even notice him? Hmm? Come on journo's.... get in touch with the warm and sensitive human being lurking somewhere deep inside your tattered and bloodied souls and give everyone a break. At times like this, the least the victims' families are going to want is you, dragging their hardships around the market square and yelling "Read all about it" through your tabloid megaphones.

I bet none of you are called Horace.

So, as promised, here is another of Frodo's travel
photos. Frodo tells me that this was taken
in the Bahamas. Apparently its a place called Taino Beach. It isn't always so quiet he says, but as a rule dogs are not allowed to run around without a leash.

Frodo is my mother-in-law's dog. He's a small brown creature known as a Bavarian Hound. You can see him in the foreground of this photo of the Taj Mahal. Frodo, you see, has become a traveller. Being 9 years old, Frodo has decided to retire and travel the world. He has promised me photos from all his exploits. His aim is to run around the entire world and to post as many photos to me as he can. I have agreed to re-post some of these pictures here, along with the junk I occassionally include here.
Returning to this photo: Frodo tells me that his visit to India introduced him to various interesting things and a great many beautiful places. He also tells me that Hindu shrines are of great interest, and some confusion. Frodo tells me that dogs recognise no gods and that he'd only just got used to the idea of a single god, as recognized by religions such as Christianity and Islam. Hinduism, it seems, threw him completely as he'd not imagined there could be a whole pantheon of gods. From a purely doggy point of view, Frodo tells me that all the gods and goddesses he encountered had completely unique smells (very important to a dog) but, I think I'll leave that particular point open to interpretation.