Nothing's ever as easy as that...

[capri0mni]

So -- called Dad last night, to tell him I'd finished the brochure for my custom-story service (or at least a near-to-final draft), and it turns out our dog, Lucky, isn't doing so well.

She'd been having trouble walking with her arthritis, so Dad decided to take her to the vet, and when he went to help her up, felt a really big lump on her shoulder. The vet didn't like it either, and took a blood sample. ... Turns out to be a fast growing tumor, and now, she's on oral chemotherapy. I still think of her as a puppy, even though she must be around 15 years old, or so, and her muzzle is more grey than black, now..

Sigh... Lucky is the last of the four-leggeds who was in our family when my mother was alive. ...it was Mother who brought her home, as a matter of fact.

In other news, my DivX player is having trouble playing the CDs gordon_r_d sent. It seems I'll have to download an audio codec for it, or maybe the whole newest version.

The stuff plays on WMP, but with a several second delay between the audio and video... so I hear whole phrases before I see the lips move. ...Watched DW-promo Blue Peter that way... odd.

But I got to wondering: Why is "Blue Peter" called "Blue Peter"? And why the ship motif? Both seem sort of non-sequitors, at this point. ... But maybe there was some sense to it when the show began. Oh, and I love the dogs just casually hanging 'round the set. Every tv show should be like that -- especially the evening news. ;-)

[Edit: Downloaded the codec, gordon_r_d, and it worked! (yay!) just thought you'd like to know]

Comments

[gordon-r-d.livejournal.com]

Oops, meant to put BS Player on one of the CDRs and forgot. Also, you'll need the latest XVid codec, which can be found at http://www.xvidmovies.com/codec/ for the actual episodes themselves, may also fix the Blue Peter problem.

[gordon-r-d.livejournal.com]

Try that again and not miss out half the post by mistake...

*huggles* Arthritis and tumours are how my last two pets died. I know it's really, really hard when a pet you've loved so long passes on. :(

[capriuni.livejournal.com]

Thanks. Means a lot. OTOH, she's not dead yet! Maybe the chemo will work...

[trinalin.livejournal.com]

Good luck to Lucky! May he be worthy of his name! :-)

[capriuni.livejournal.com]

She, actually... her full name is "Lucky Sunshine Baby" (we couldn't decide when she was a pup, then realized that's because all three fit).

Talked to Dad again tonight, and she doesn't seem to be suffering at all, now that she's on meds for her arthritis... he's going to talk to the vet next week, to see if he can wait before giving her the chemo, until he returns from shuttling me between Virginia, New York, and home again... doesn't want to give her anything that may cause nasty side effects, and then leave... Seems sensible to me... (Pharmacy doesn't have the meds in, yet, anyway)

[indefatigable42.livejournal.com]

Poor doggie. Hope this works. *sends puppy cuddles*

Yes, I say 'puppy' even when they're fifteen. ^^;

[capriuni.livejournal.com]

Yeah. Me, too. And my nearly-9 cats are still "kittens"... >^..^

[indefatigable42.livejournal.com]

Yes! Digger is almost 12 and he's still Mr. Kitten.

Answer to the Blue Peter thing,,,

[gordon-r-d.livejournal.com]

The bane is taken from the blue and white flag hoisted by a ship leaving port on a voyage. The ship logo and sea shanty theme tune (Barnacle Bill) kind of follow on from that.

Re: Answer to the Blue Peter thing,,,

[gordon-r-d.livejournal.com]

That should read "The name is taken..." Oops

Re: Answer to the Blue Peter thing,,,

[capriuni.livejournal.com]

Okay, thanks! I think that flag must be a British thing; I've never heard of an equivalent for American ships, AFAIK (though I've never actually asked). ...

The only ship's flag-with-a-name that I know of is "The Jolly Roger"

:::Goes toddling off to Google to see if she can find an image of the flag in question:::

[snowgrouse.livejournal.com]

I HIGHLY recommend Media Player Classic for playing anything in divx, Xvid or whatever. It's so far worked with EVERYTHING I've thrown at it.

Also, you can get *all* the best codecs (never ever download codec packs), if you follow the instructions here.

Good luck. And *hugs* about the poor doggie:(.

[alryssa.livejournal.com]

I know this one! ;D

The Blue Peter is a naval term, coming from when a ship would raise its Blue Peter flag, signalling its readiness to depart, and thencefore signalling for its crew to reboard. It was introduced in the 1750's, as a blue flag with six white balls. It was replaced not long after with a white square. Why blue peter? Not sure. It could be an abbreviation of 'Blue Pierced White'.


On the other topic... chemo for a fifteen year old dog? I hope she's strong enough to withstand the treatment. :-/

[capriuni.livejournal.com]

Why blue peter? Not sure. It could be an abbreviation of 'Blue Pierced White'.

Hmm. I actually took the radical step, last night, of looking the term up in my American Heritage Dictionary (ducks and runs). According to that entry, it got the name because the flag is also the letter "P" in the International Code of Symbols. But I'm thinking, maybe, "P" comes from "Peter" and not the other way around...

On the other topic... chemo for a fifteen year old dog? I hope she's strong enough to withstand the treatment. :-/

Yeah. Dad has not decided to go through with it, yet.

[rustyverse.livejournal.com]

I love esoteric British titles for tv shows. It's so British. To me, Blue Peter sounds like a venereal disease. X-D

To my knowledge, the most esoteric British title for a tv show was Old Grey Whistle Test. This was a show where pop stars would perform their songs live in the studio with no audience. At first, I thought that the title had something to do with trains, but no.

In the 20's representatives from music publishing companies would visit songwriters and ask that the writers whistle the melodies from their songs. If the representative (who was likely to be wearing a grey suit) liked the song, his company would publish it and thus the songwriter would have passed "the old grey whistle test."

[capriuni.livejournal.com]

To me, Blue Peter sounds like a venereal disease. X-D

When I first saw it mentioned on alt.drwho.creative,I just assumed it was an "adult" show, with risque (or outright pornographic) content...