Nuffnang

Monday, March 23, 2009

Dog days are here

I'm celebrating 100 today...No, I'm not 100 years old, not even in doggie years, let alone human years (which would make me 700 doggie years)!

Today I celebrate my 100th post! In 5 days, I will be celebrating my first year blog anniversary. What an incredible journey it has been - it truly has been an experience that has made my life so much richer. Who knew that blogging could change lives?

After that little piece of news, let's move on to my next post on my Dog Series. Living in tropical sunny Malaysia, we only get rain or shine here. Never seen snow! Closest thing to it is probably an ice cube! So, I took great pleasure in reading your snow posts and seeing your snow white pictures.

We've had plenty of rain in the last couple of months. But, even as my friends in the Northern Hemisphere welcome spring, over here in Malaysia, I reckon the dog days are here. Dog days refer to the hottest period of the year (which, in Malaysia probably means for at least 6 - 9 months of the year).This term was used by the Greeks and the ancient Romans after the "Dog Star", Sirius. If you recall, Sirius is the brightest star, next to the sun. So, it makes sense that the hottest time of the year is called dog days.
Kess, enjoying a dog day evening

There are some pretty bizarre beliefs and practices relating to dog days. There was apparently a belief that dog days was an evil time "when the seas boiled, wine turned sour, dogs grew mad, and all creatures became languid, causing to man burning fevers, hysterics, and phrensies". OK...let's take that one with a double pinch of salt. Another myth states that the ancients sacrificed a brown dog at the beginning of the dog days to appease the rage of Sirius, believing that the star was the cause of the hot, sultry weather. Yikes mum...I'm a brown tri-colour beagle...Do I need to hide out until it's safe? "Don't be silly, Kess...It's just a myth. Besides, we live in the 21st century" Phew!

Closer to current day, the term dog days apparently refer to poor performance of the the stock market. Typically, summer is supposedly a very slow time for the stock market. To top is off, poorly performing stocks with weak prospects are frequently known as "dogs". Given today's state of the global economy, looks like there are plenty of "dogs" out there!

Who knew that dog days could be used from describing the weather to the stock market - two topics that everyone talks about!

"Dog" Series
1. It's a dog's life
2. Fighting like cats and dogs(Beagle Identity Crisis)
3. Gone to the dogs
4. Let sleeping dogs lie
5. It's dogged as does it
6. The Underdog (vs. Top dog) (The Awesome Blog Award Nomination)
7. Every Dog Has Its Day
8. Dog Star
9. Hot Dog (Yikes...Man eats dog)

11 comments:

Molly the Airedale said...

UGH! We are not crazy about the super hot weather, Kess! The one good thing about it is ice cream! Our paws are crossed that you get lots of it in the coming weeks!

Love ya lots,
Maggie and Mitch

NAK and The Residents of The Khottage Now With KhattleDog! said...

My mom and I get unkhomfortable just HEARING your khountry's name!

We don't khare fur heat AND humidity!

Tank woo fur shraring AND khongrats on the posting achievement!

Hugz&Khysses,
Khyra

KEY WEST COLLIES said...

We don't get snow here in Key West. It is warm or hot all year round. '

Essex & Deacon

Anonymous said...

Hi Kess! Congratulations on 100 posts and almost one year of blogging! You sure look cute enjoying your dog day evening. Our South Florida climate is very much like yours, but we like it just fine. It's only snowed here once, on Jan. 19, 1977 - my mom's birthday.

See ya!
Joey

Lorenza said...

Congratulations on your 100th Post! and many more to come!
Here is hot most of the time too!
Kisses and hugs
Lorenza

Fred said...

Happy 100!

Kathryn and Ari said...

Happy 100, Kess! We're so glad to have you on DWB. Good luck with the weather.

Sapphire said...

congratulations on your 100th post!

enjoy reading your blog very much and kess, enjoy the weather!

Sapphire loves the crunch from ice-cubes.

H and S

One Little Birdie said...

Wow, educational and entertaining! We aren't so thrilled with the hot weather - we think the real dog days are cold and snowy and we never get enough of them.

Amber-Mae said...

Congrats on your 100th post!

Belly jiggles,
Solid Gold Dancer

Dughallmor Beagles said...

Wowsers....100 posts and nearly your blog-
aversary....congratulations and well done on keeping a wonderful blog, you have gorgeous photos of your girl and funny and informative posts, long may it continue! Here's to the next 100 posts....and here's to life-changing blogs, we're with you on that one!
Oh....and if we could send you some of that silly cold stuff, we would!
Slobbers xx

Thanks for signing my guest book.