1. Where does this find you? Tell us the tail of how you got here.

At the moment I am to be found with my humans in the frozen north of Michigan, USA, on the Keweenaw Peninsula which sticks up into Lake Superior like an accusatory finger (or more likely a signpost) pointing at Canada. One of my humans is working here at the moment and the other one looks like she is mostly knitting...

I am here purely because of Moblog. Originally from China, my early years are a mystery to me. My first real memory was finding myself in a Headingley supermarket using what can only be my hip hop name "Cool Stuff". From there I was adopted by my humans, on the insistance of fellow Moblog people, to begin a new life. Since then I have travelled to far flung places, like Birmingham and America and met many interesting and lovely fellow Mobloggers along the way.

3. Do you consider yourself to be part of the pup-arazzi or are you an enthusiatic amateur?

For now I am very much the enthusiastic amateur, though if I were dogged enough (and let off the leash a little more) maybe I could run with the (press) pack...

4. Choose one CD, one book and one film to be stranded with on a desert island

This is difficult. So many to choose from... I think my favourite film would have to be The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, starring my hero - Gromit and his human sidekick. My book would probably be 'Only one woof' by James Herriot (I'm saving mine for a special occasion too). For music, it's so hard to choose, but I would probably take Handel's Messiah because it's a cracking good sing and can go on for what seems like days so it would be good value too :)

5. If you were to write an autobiography of your life, what would it’s title be?

If I were to have some hypnotic regression, it would be 'Freak Doggy Dog - the "Cool Stuff" years'. If not, then I would go for 'From Somerfield's to Summer Bay' - charting my journey from supermarket shelf to Australian soap stardom (it's got to happen one day). Or maybe "Smiling On The Inside".

6. If you could take a year off, what would you do with it?

To take a year off, I would first need something to take a year off from... So I would try to find a job. Failing that I would make a long list of things I wanted to learn, read, see and do. Then I would get side-tracked and not actually do any of them (or very few) but learn to knit and read Agatha Christie novels and just stare into space instead.

7. Which food could you not live without?

Before moving to America I thought it would be cheese I would miss most... Brie, Stilton, Wensleydale, cumin Gouda, a good cheddar... but I have been surprised (and not a little horrified) at how much I've come to love "EasyCheese" - cheese product in an aerosol spray can if you can let yourselves imagine such a thing. What's wrong with me?!? My humans have grown weak to it's power too, to the extent of buying another can!!!.

Seriously, there would be no kind of living without tea, but I don't class tea as a "food" as such. No, tea is an essential life fluid like blood and lymph (but more socially acceptable as a beverage).

8: If you were a human, which type of human would you be (eg. a singer, one of the Pointer Sisters for example)

I would be a cat person.

9. What is the biggest problem faced by Dogkind today, and how would you solve it?

Sadly, the biggest problem facing Dogkind is also its greatest friend, the humans. From welfare issues such as those surrounding greyhound racing and poor discipline leading to abandonment and abuse, to habitat destruction and persecution of our wild cousins from the wolf to the African wild dog, to name but a few. The humans are also the only ones that can provide the solutions (and use the tin openers), so I would have to give them a long hard stare.


10. What is the most important thing that is going to happen in your world in 2009

My humans will be taking me to live in Rhode Island again soon, so I'm looking forward to that. The knitting one will be starting gainful employment again once the paperwork is all sorted, so that will leave me more time to do what ever I want, uninterupted and unhindered. I'm looking forward to a visit from my beloved FilbertFox, who I miss very much, and the lovely BaggieBoy. In fact if anyone happens to be passing, please do pop in for a cup of tea :)

I won't know what will work out to be the most important thing though, not until all the things of the year have happened and can be assessed as objectively as possible. But I can be pretty sure tea and cake will be involved somewhere along the line.

Posted by Spiderbaby