Newgrounds.com — Everything, By Everyone.

I'll post up some wallpaper when I get home, but in the mean time, take a look at this thing.

It was created by the friend of a guy I know, and basically it's a program that'll download and install your selection of popular freeware with default settings but without stupid crap like browser toolbars. Probably makes reinstalling your OS a lot easier?

It's a pretty neat idea, but I'm assuming the site will fold once everyone finally admits to themselves that web 2.0 stuff isn't generating any income.

I think this is stupid week for me or something. I had a Spanish test this morning, and in some parts, you wrote sentences. I was trying to write "but." But I mistook the word "but" (pero) for the word "because" (porque). Aw crap.

At 10/22/09 07:55 PM, SkunkyFluffy wrote: He's three years old, red, and ran under the name To Tell the Truth.

Any way you can check & see how he did ?

Back to tattoo's.... the one on my chest was over 4 hours, but it was drawn with the lines being the same color as what it would be filled with, so they made me heal for 2 weeks before they filled it . So a little less than 2 hours to draw it out & over 2 to fill it ... the cover up on my right hip/upper leg was almost 3.

Still haven't found anything for my right shoulder from back & over to front yet...but after seeing Proteas's tattoo I went looking at 'mechanical's' & I think that torn flesh with a plate & bolts & a long pin on my lower left leg, where I have a real metal plate & pins would be cool....could be a problem with the scarring there though. Or maybe it could be incorperated in the look .

At 10/23/09 02:18 PM, morefngdbs wrote: I think that torn flesh with a plate & bolts & a long pin on my lower left leg, where I have a real metal plate & pins would be cool....could be a problem with the scarring there though. Or maybe it could be incorperated in the look .

This is pure win. My buddy Carl had a brain tattooed on his head. It was fucking BRILLIANT, especially if he got banged up in the most pit. He had another fake gunshot wound, but it just looked like a zit.

At 10/22/09 09:49 PM, Proteas wrote: (^^)

WALLPAPER CHECK!!!

Lounge? This is Justine Joli. Worship her accordingly.

I'd hit it.

Current paper is NSFW... probably wouldn't be appropriate to post :P

Here's my wallpaper.

At 10/23/09 02:18 PM, morefngdbs wrote: Any way you can check & see how he did ?

I couldn't find him in the racing registry. His name may be spelled strangely or something, which might make it harder to find him, but once I have him I can pull up his info using his ear tattoo. He's probably not a terribly good racer, since he's being retired at three years of age - I believe they start racing at 18 months, and the very best racers are retired at 5 or 6 years of age. The gal from the rescue didn't mention any injuries, which would be the other reason he might be retired young.

My aunt is a dog trainer who trains dogs for those professional dog shows and my grandparents used to always have an irish setter around their house (or a golden retriever) most of them were grand champion show dogs that were retired after 4 or 5 years. But that's dog shows, once they won grand championship or whatnot, they were done and sold their love goo for thousands of dollars a pop.

At 10/23/09 06:26 PM, Malachy wrote: My aunt is a dog trainer who trains dogs for those professional dog shows and my grandparents used to always have an irish setter around their house (or a golden retriever) most of them were grand champion show dogs that were retired after 4 or 5 years. But that's dog shows, once they won grand championship or whatnot, they were done and sold their love goo for thousands of dollars a pop.

In racing, champion males are often kept around until they're 8 or 9 and then adopted out just like the younger retirees, and champion females are kept for breeding until they're 6 or 7 and then put up for adoption after they've had a litter or two. Occasionally a real favorite will go home with the kennel owner or someone affiliated with the sport, but with hundreds of dogs being started, raced, and retired every year, there aren't enough racing-affiliated homes for them all.

Racing puppies with good bloodlines have sold for $45,000. Show dog puppies, even from grand champion bloodlines, usually sell for less than three grand. Part of this is because it costs a fuckload to actually show a dog until his or her championship is completed, and a show dog's owner and handler don't make a huge amount of money off the dog, even when the time comes to breed them. Racing pups, on the other hand, can make their owners enormous amounts of money.

At 10/23/09 06:32 PM, SkunkyFluffy wrote: Racing puppies with good bloodlines have sold for $45,000. Show dog puppies, even from grand champion bloodlines, usually sell for less than three grand. Part of this is because it costs a fuckload to actually show a dog until his or her championship is completed, and a show dog's owner and handler don't make a huge amount of money off the dog, even when the time comes to breed them. Racing pups, on the other hand, can make their owners enormous amounts of money.

So is this a shelter from rescued racing dogs, like they really dislike dog racing and think it is abusive, or is it just a post-racing place that supports dog racing?

At 10/23/09 06:45 PM, Malachy wrote: So is this a shelter from rescued racing dogs, like they really dislike dog racing and think it is abusive, or is it just a post-racing place that supports dog racing?

There are both kinds of groups. I'm not sure how the anti-racing groups get by, honestly, since the racetracks aren't going to be as happy with them. The particular group I went through is "racing neutral," and a number of the individuals I worked with during the application phase had a positive outlook on racing. Even the ones who lament the fact that the dogs don't have wonderful lives at the track admit that without organized racing, the breed would probably die out.

These folks have a really close relationship with one particular track in West Virginia. They have their own kennel at the track that can house about 30 hounds, and when a dog is retired it goes to live in the rescue kennel. Life in the rescue kennel is about the same as life in the racing kennels, with the exception of the actual races. Then when this group gets an application from an eligible adopter, they call the rescue kennel and tell them the adopter's needs - in our case we requested a male, 3-5 years of age for various reasons, and a dog who is either cat-friendly or entirely non-cat-reactive. The folks who run the rescue kennel go through the dogs they have at the time and make a match.

At 10/23/09 04:25 PM, Ravariel wrote: Current paper is NSFW... probably wouldn't be appropriate to post :P

That's when you go into mspaint and censor over the naughty bits with awesome faces, or simple black bars. I was going to do that with my wallpaper last week (a half naked furry babe in a bikini), but you folks probably think I'm weird enough as it is without thinking me a furry... even if the furry babe in question was FUCKING HOT, I'm not a furry.

Jeremy Bernal is a great artist. Screw you guys.

At 10/23/09 06:09 PM, SkunkyFluffy wrote: The gal from the rescue didn't mention any injuries, which would be the other reason he might be retired young.

I find that odd, that he would be retired so young and yet not abused (especially given how harsh that life can be). Does he have any fear of humans? Skiddish, hand shy at all?

-----

I saw this tattoo today and thought of more, funk, and staff. Maybe skunky and seven, too.

At 10/23/09 07:04 PM, Proteas wrote: I find that odd, that he would be retired so young and yet not abused (especially given how harsh that life can be). Does he have any fear of humans? Skiddish, hand shy at all?

They're retired young if they don't win or if they injure themselves. Even a really good racer will be retired if he breaks a toe or a leg, because those injuries are so hard to recover from and still be able to race without pain. They might try to get a litter by him before he goes to a home, but he won't go back on the track.

A dog from a racing background is significantly less likely to be abused than your average stray at the shelter. They are high-performance athletes, and while a few bad apples in the racing industry abuse their dogs, for the most part they are treated very well. The lifestyle isn't as cushy as being a pet, but they are fed well, receive excellent veterinary care, get turned out for exercise and to relieve themselves four times a day, and almost always have someone around to tend to them.

I haven't met the dog yet, but I would be extremely surprised if he were hand-shy or skittish at all. They are handled extensively from birth onward to make training and medical care easier.

At 10/23/09 06:53 PM, SkunkyFluffy wrote: These folks have a really close relationship with one particular track in West Virginia. They have their own kennel at the track that can house about 30 hounds, and when a dog is retired it goes to live in the rescue kennel. Life in the rescue kennel is about the same as life in the racing kennels, with the exception of the actual races. Then when this group gets an application from an eligible adopter, they call the rescue kennel and tell them the adopter's needs - in our case we requested a male, 3-5 years of age for various reasons, and a dog who is either cat-friendly or entirely non-cat-reactive. The folks who run the rescue kennel go through the dogs they have at the time and make a match.

sounds like quite a process for a dog. I'm glad you guys are getting one. I like dogs more than cats. I have one cat who's pretty dog-like, but he doesn't play catch and if you let him outside he'll follow you until he finds some grass, which he'll eat until he gets himself sick.

I'd prefer to get pets from a rescue or SPCA, but when you're set on a specific breed like my wife was, you just hit the classifieds and show up wherever "siamese kittens" is and hope to god it's not another furry party. :x

I want a big dumb lab. A dog that'll be retarded enough that I can laugh at him on a daily basis and dumb enough that he'll still love me for it. Gotta love water and chasing tennis balls and none of that strange ear infections where they fill up with fluid like water balloons. And can handle cats. My cats fared well with our old neighbor's Rottweiler mix so I think they can handle a lab

At 10/23/09 07:28 PM, SkunkyFluffy wrote: I haven't met the dog yet, but I would be extremely surprised if he were hand-shy or skittish at all. They are handled extensively from birth onward to make training and medical care easier.

Well that's good. I'd hate for you to go to such extensive lengths to get a dog and then just have a nut-case dog on your hands to dal with and retrain.

But then again, I'm more speaking from personal experience. When we hear of grey-hounds being up for adoption in my area, they're usually rescue dogs from abusive owners or home-based puppie mills. Nut case dogs, basically.

At 10/23/09 07:29 PM, Malachy wrote: I want a big dumb lab. A dog that'll be retarded enough that I can laugh at him on a daily basis and dumb enough that he'll still love me for it.

If you can find one, get a lab/pit mix. Great with kids, adn will scare the hell out of people who ought not be at your house.

My folks had one when I was a little kid. The UPS driver used to throw packages at the house as he drove by, just to keep from having to get out of the van.

At 10/23/09 07:45 PM, Proteas wrote: But then again, I'm more speaking from personal experience. When we hear of grey-hounds being up for adoption in my area, they're usually rescue dogs from abusive owners or home-based puppie mills. Nut case dogs, basically.

Yeah, a dog from a reputable track is nothing like that.

If you can find one, get a lab/pit mix. Great with kids, adn will scare the hell out of people who ought not be at your house.

Except that pit bulls are inherently likely to be dog aggressive, and even a mix is potentially going to have problems with other (especially same-sex) dogs, so he would never be able to take it to the dog park or anything like that without a huge risk. Pit bulls are amazing dogs, but because of their bad reputation, you have to be insanely careful with them.

At 10/23/09 07:48 PM, SkunkyFluffy wrote: Pit bulls are amazing dogs, but because of their bad reputation, you have to be insanely careful with them.

My family owns a pit, I'm aware of the risks.

But then again, I think ours is a perfect example of the "nature versus nurture" argument with pits; she was given to us by a friend of my mom's who had to move, and the dog was raised in an apartment with yorkshire terriers, never was around other pits. So she thinks she's a 70 pound toy dog; afraid of the wind, rain, lightning, strangers, and when we got her... she loved to try and jump in your lap (a hard habit to break).

She's the reason why I keep a gun by the bed. She's pretty much worthless as a guard dog. ;-D

But... if we were to starve her for a month or so, make her work out relentlessly by having her walk for hours on a treadmill, and beat her daily, I'm sure we'd have a dog worthy of biting some kid's face off and winding up on the news.

I'm not sure you understand me. Pit bulls are bred to be dog aggressive. Some are more or less so, and early socialization is key for them, but a truly well-bred pit bull WILL be aggressive toward other dogs. The ideal old-style pit bull was aggressive toward other dogs and docile and obedient toward humans. Only after the introduction of molosser breeds (some "pitbulls" have been intentionally bred this way) or the influence of bad owners will a pit bull show aggression toward a human, but there is nothing technically wrong with a purebred pit who is aggressive toward other dogs.

At 10/23/09 08:07 PM, SkunkyFluffy wrote: I'm not sure you understand me. Pit bulls are bred to be dog aggressive.

I understood you, I also understand that mine is very easily the exception. All I'm saying is that how they are handled has as much to do with how they act as anything else.

I hope I did not offend you or anything. Peace?

No offense taken, but suggesting that a pit bull can be made to be non-dog-aggressive simply by socializing it with other dogs from a young age is plain misinformation, which can very easily lead to someone's well-socialized pit bull ripping off another dog's face and then having to be put to sleep. It's just plain not a good idea to hold up your exception as an example of the breed - it encourages people to ignore the basic nature of the breed, which is dangerous.

At 10/23/09 08:49 PM, SkunkyFluffy wrote: It's just plain not a good idea to hold up your exception as an example of the breed - it encourages people to ignore the basic nature of the breed, which is dangerous.

Point taken.

======

My dad just got in off the road, and he had a story to tell.

After he got back to the yard to drop off his truck for the night, he was asked if he would go make one quick delivery before leaving. He agreed, went and picked up the load, and drove three miles down the road to it's destination.

The destination was the Gibson Guitar Factory in Nasvhille. The load was a flat bed trailer filled with 60,000 board feet of high grade Honduran mahogany plank boards, straight grain with no imperfections ANYWHERE.

His words; "Now I know where the Gibson Factory is." ;-D

At 10/23/09 09:19 PM, Proteas wrote:

His words; "Now I know where the Gibson Factory is." ;-D

There's only one question. What guitar solo started blasting in your head after he said that?

At 10/23/09 09:46 PM, stafffighter wrote: There's only one question. What guitar solo started blasting in your head after he said that?

"November Rain" by the Guns 'N' Roses. Awww yeah.

At 10/23/09 09:52 PM, Proteas wrote:

At 10/23/09 09:46 PM, stafffighter wrote: There's only one question. What guitar solo started blasting in your head after he said that?

"November Rain" by the Guns 'N' Roses. Awww yeah.

That's gonna be in my head allllll night now.

Okay, I'm probably reading too much into this, but it's creeping me out.

Got a drunk dial from, well, someone. I thought she was my one friend because it was a restricted number, and 98% of the time, restricted numbers are that friend. I kept thinking it may be her because the voice inflections and expressions and whatnot were similar. But man, was this girl drunk. At least she admitted she was out of it and drunk. She even made noises that said friend makes when she is sober, which made me wonder.

Several things made me wonder. This friend doesn't drink (but may be driven to it since she's done crazy things lately) and would remember my virginity status. She would also remember I have a boyfriend. She did mention something about a specific someone in her class...I may know him, now that I think about it. But I did hang up after five minutes.

Is there any way to unmask restricted numbers? As for blocking them, I now know how to do that, but I don't think this should be a problem. Odds are it was a wrong number and I'll never hear from her again, but that doesn't make it any less creepy. She was drunk, so it's possible.

Assuming someone didn't hit the wrong number, there is only a small amount of people who know my number. And for people in my class, that number is very, very small.

At 10/23/09 10:23 PM, RydiaLockheart wrote: Assuming someone didn't hit the wrong number, there is only a small amount of people who know my number. And for people in my class, that number is very, very small.

Trap Call. Their free version will allow you to unmask phone calls and give you a number (if I'm reading it right), then you can just call them back and ask what their on, or really freak them out and show up in the morning when they've got a hangover and ask them face-to-face whilst holding a blunt object of your choice.

The blunt object is optional. I'm not a violent person, just vengeful.

I just want a Lab.

other "aggressive" species I'd consider: Malamute and Huskies. My uncle had some huskies and they were pretty fuzzy looking, but he kept them in a pen outside his house and only had them for a few years.

Considering there are a fucking bazillion labs in shelters, from gray-muzzled oldsters to brand new puppies, I can't fault you if all you want is a lab. They're good dogs. My mom doesn't like them because they have a tendency to jump up on her, and she's scared by that, but most excitable breeds will do that.

My only complaint about Labradors is that they have a tendency to beat the everloving shit out of your legs with their tails. It's ridiculous. I know you're happy, dog, but come on.

By the same token, though, one of the greyhounds who did my home visit was a wagger. Most greyhounds carry their tails fairly low, and wag relatively little. This guy had his straight out from his back and it was like being struck with a riding crop.

So Ben went the way of Len Bias and Christopher Farley.

At 10/23/09 07:04 PM, Proteas wrote:

At 10/23/09 04:25 PM, Ravariel wrote: Current paper is NSFW... probably wouldn't be appropriate to post :P

That's when you go into mspaint and censor over the naughty bits with awesome faces, or simple black bars.

Your wish is my command... hooray for bad MS paint ruining the pic, but keeping it safe for virgin eyes! If somehow this doesn't work and/or it won't load the safety-awesome, mods feel free to baleet.