Elf et Michelf: A Holiday Tail by Humphrey

Humphrey decided to combine his interests in popular culture and philosophy, and produce an animated video about Michel Foucault and that pesky Elf that sits on Shelves. He hopes readers enjoy.

Humphrey's holiday video, 2014

Getting ready for the holidays

Despite the mountains of work that Humph and his pack have ahead of them, they managed to squeeze in a tiny bit of holiday prep. They don't have a lot of time to fiddle with photography, so these are not Humph's best work.....

There's that fantastic ornament (again!)

The all-white sparkly tree in daylight....

...And illuminated at night!

That's one happy dog (who is out celebrating Hanukkah with his best girl Itzy in this photo - more posts on that special night to come!)...

The fabulous night ended with Humphrey's favorite holiday bedtime story: The Little Shark of Bethlehem Visits the North Pole, composed by a very special author (you know who you are!)

DIY Gifts: How about a money tree?

What do you get for the dog who has everything? How about his or her own money tree?
Rather than the uninspired cash-in-an-envelope, affix bills to a tree (this sparkly one was $1) so the recipient can remove the decorations on an as-needed basis.

It's tough to tie the tiny bows with paws, so dogs, ask your humans for assistance on this craft!

DIY Balloon Boots!

Willowdale is on the verge of more snow, rather early in the season if you were to ask Humphrey. It seems fitting that he share a DIY project with readers. Most dog people know about the utility of commercial balloon boots for dogs - totally water and salt proof, not at all bulky on the feet. Humphrey doesn't care for footwear of any sort, these bother him the least. But, at about $15 for a pack, they're hardly affordable!

His pal Bella turned him on to a much less expensive solution - only about $1 for 3 pairs! Materials needed are a pack of dollar-store round balloons, and a pair of scissors.

Determine where to cut the balloon's based on the wearer's ankle width - they should be snug enough to stay on, but make sure they won't cut off circulation! For Humphrey, the ideal alteration is a cut just at the point where the balloon begins to narrow.

Humph will have his rubber boots ready for the storm - and though he will wear them with great reluctance, they'll make walking possible for him on the cold, salty streets.

Name in the snow

Humphrey has heard of dogs writing their name in the snow, metaphorically - but look what he found last night in the first snow of the season!

He's grateful to his awesome neighbour with the tiny dog feet and excellent literacy skills who did this!

While he has not yet had time to fully engage in holiday decorations, Humphrey has achieved a very small start, and thought he's share some highlights as a prelude of what's to come...

A very flamboyant holiday parrot with rhinestone epaulets blings up the pottery collection 

Birds sitting a decorative garland with lights on the mantle

A new favorite ornament that will eventually take its place on the tree.
It reminds Humphrey of 1980s art sensation Jeff Koons.

The mantle (so far) with the holiday lights on. More to come!

CBC Frontline's Barking Mad!

CBC's Marketplace recently aired an episode titled Barking Mad (click to view)! How timely, given the healthcare debates currently happening worldwide!

Humphrey nodded his head in agreement on many points during the Marketplace episode - including the fury over dreaded dieting via prescription dog food!

Also interesting was the piece on heart worm. Since Humphrey (and many readers!) love statistics, he will share some. For instance, in Ontario alone, owners spend about $14.5 million on heart worm tests, which Frontline reports are largely un-necessary on an annual basis in Ontario where the risk is about 0.15% (not 15, but 0.15%!).

The vaccine issue, in dogs just like among people, is controversial. Humphrey enjoyed reading the comments at the bottom of the episode's home page.

So far, Humphrey's been extremely happy with his Toronto vet, Dr. Yearwood, who seems to take a minimalist approach to treatment that would confirm with the recommendations of this program. Humphrey has also had some relatively positive experiences with US veterinary specialists.

Humphrey wonders - are his readers satisfied with their medical care??? And how much are readers contributing to the pet economy???

CBC's infographic available here

Humphrey's 2 new machines for thinking introduced...

Readers will remember that Humphrey has written about machines for thinking - "How these rooms are furnished, what pieces inhabit them and give them shape, determines in large measure what kinds of thoughts are possible there," Mark Kingwell explains. "The rooms of our existence are throbbing with thoughts waiting to happen, with insights struggling into the ever-changing light."

Humphrey definitely achieved a peaceful space for dreamy thoughts in his new machine for thinking, thanks to a bit of time recently devoted to putting the space together...

Humphrey loves to build a thinking fort by pushing the covers and pillows around with his snout.

Humphrey actively participated in creating the three-dimensional blossomed canvas.

This space lets him dream about creative things like fashion!

And this space lets him look at trinkets with fond memories attached - including his look-a-like lamp  from Value Village!

And finally, a second machine for thinking arrived - his prize from the photo contest he won earlier in the year! No question it will help him with his thinking. And when you don't have fingers, a touch screen should come in very handy!

A day in the life

Humphrey promised to post about his new home - without further ado, here is a day in his life...

Humphrey wakes up among his fluffy pillows with the morning light streaming in, and a cool cross-breeze tickling his furry coat.

 The original owners had a relative who was a carpenter, so Humph has plenty of architectural details to enjoy. He looks up at the medallion on the sloped cathedral ceiling - it looks good enough to eat, and he imagines it would taste like marzipan icing.  

He loves the Chinese Chippendale chair in the corner (viewed from the dresser). It reminds him of Jonathan Adler.
Humphrey's  aesthetic touch is everywhere - when he was a puppy, he gravitated towards things white and yellow. He was happiest in any Coach retail store. Perhaps a camouflage instinct? To accommodate his preferences, the entire house was painted in shades of white.

Is it already time to head downstairs???? Humphrey is so happy to finally have some stairs to play on.

Not before a quick peek into the study, and a nod to the Karl Lagerfeld  reproduction drawings on the wall. Quel inspiration! He's avoiding the guest room, because it's a disastrous work in progress at the moment.

And a peek at the cheery, commemorative Holt Renfrew Via Italia poster. Caio! This room really reminds him of Coach!

Then, it's down to inspect the living room, with so many sunny spots for napping.

Every morning, Humph insists on a quick sunbath on the south patio before going anywhere. It needs to be repainted, but the wood feels good against his skin. He peers through the railing to the backyard below, stretches, and lies down...

...but not for long! The ruckus outside leads him to the north patio (yes, the north patio!) where he  barks out a morning hello to Alfie, Georgie, and Gloria who also appear to be on their front patios!
Humph loves to have both the north and south doors open for a wonderful summer breeze.

And before you know it, it's time for a walk!

Followed by some quality time with a certain squeaky toy in the backyard, on the cushy chaisse.
It's great to have a backyard, but boy does it need his green thumb! And the ground floor family room needs a poodle's magic touch too, so no photos of that just yet.

Then to the dining room to set the table in time for.....

A meal on a proper table!

Then catching some TV. with someone special..

And ending the day with a nap on his favorite pillow, perched atop the sofa.

A Quick Stop in Canada's Motor City

Approaching the Ambassador Bridge

Humphrey travelled to Windsor recently to attend a conference on argumentation. Make no mistake: he is  no fan of  "adversarial" styles of argumentation, since he really likes harmony. Rather he advocates something more along the lines of Foss & Griffin's invitational rhetoric.

The conference was a great time for him...

He liked that a golf cart transported the more senior academics who couldn't walk long distances around campus!

The Windsor people were so urban, throwing down gang signs while looking at the scholarly book displays.

His Windsor garden was lovely, and he was glad to be there when the lilacs were in bloom.

As good a time as it was, he was happy to return to East Willowdale! More on his post-move adventures to come very, very soon.

Humphrey plays with his pal at the spa

Humphrey's been awfully busy - more posts to come soon! In the mean time, he wanted to share this little video of a "spa day" that included playing with his pal, Jello.

Winner! Gagnon!

Humphrey feels terrible about his lack of posts lately and promises more to come since he's been documenting his latest adventures.
Today, he got some wonderful news! He is the grand prize winner of the Snapfish Winter Colors Photo Contest! Here's his winning entry, which his friends will recognize:

He'll be receiving a much-needed new computer from HP, which should be added encouragement to keep up with his blogging.
This small triumph reminded him of Mark Kingwell's recent work on luck (not merit) - here's a great video of Kingwell discussing the politics of luck on TVO's The Agenda. Humphrey is an exceptionally lucky dog in so many ways - he has a knack for finding cash on the street, one of his best tricks! At this point, his running total of cash equivalent scores pay for all his vet bills to date!

Buying and selling

Humphrey did a cursory search to see what those in the ivory tower have to say about consumerism perpetuated in real estate transactions. He figured since "ivory towers" must be pricey properties, they ought to be experts. So far, nothing came up.

Here's a completely unfunctional living/dining space.

He recently experienced a little something called "staging," which is quite literally performance (in the scholarly use of this big word!). The idea is that the space for sale masquerades as something it's not so that the buyer's eye (and perhaps ego) is led to believe a space is something that it normally isn't. It involved a lot of furniture-moving. But it often involves major purchaes (or sometimes rentals), just for show.

Detail of purchased flowers

Paintings, mongolian fur pillows and tulips are not normally part of this room.

Sometimes, it even involves electrical upgrades - including this space that replace all toggle light switches with sleeker "decorator" switches purely for aesthetics (the others were actually more functional!). Not only was this (useless) consumerism, but also possible environmental concerns if the old toggle switches are not freecycled (they were). Then there's the ethical matter of "advice" to install things that are against code. All for the sake of selling, when there is a high probability the seller will just rip things up and send them to the dump!

Kitchen, sans range hood which is against code!

Humphrey's favorite appliances - laundry!!!

What an odd home office, with no actual place to work. And where's all the technology in this home???

Humph's "machine for thinking"

And voila, the virtual tour is over. Humphrey must scurry and replace all the accoutrements of "real life" (toys, computers, paper, pens, etc.) that are frowned upon in the world of real estate showings.

Spring, where are you?

It's awfully snowy - and this Humphrey's balcony view at twilight:

 

View from the balcony

Kids are loving tobogganing down the hill by the pool.

Hard to believe this is what it looks like a few months later when the Russian Olive is in bloom.

Humph loves when the service berry trees are in bloom! Means he can pick them to eat soon!

Dusk from the balcony is lovely, even when there are no leaves on the trees.

But the best time of all is when it's warm enough for picnic just below Humphrey's balcony. Yum!!