Last weekend my wife and I visited a liquor store. She was looking for some red wine and I wanted some white. Neither of us had anything more particular than that in mind. Then this bottle caught my eye.
dw: Look Honey! This wine has a dog on it!Wife: That's nice, Honey.
dw: Isn't it cool?
Wife: Do you want it?
dw: I want to take pictures of it.
Wife: Pictures of it?
dw: Do you think it's good wine?
Wife: Get it if you want it, Honey.
We can become captivated by a thing that stays always a little bit out of focus, challenging us to find the right lens through which we can shape a clear vision. It tends to make us dizzy if it moves outside our depth of field. Or else it stays within the focal range we set, but then draws our eye first to the illusory images formed by the many reflections from it's surface, and then to the reshaped rays of refraction coming through it from oblique angles, and then to the shadows and colors. Our brain gets hooked on the visual puzzle. We feel that it is worth the effort to understand. And we know, of course, that in the opinion of many wise people, these intangible images are only a distraction, that really it is the inner substance that is more worthy of attention (and I did eventually drink the wine...it's not bad at all). But we are human, and a good percentage of our brain is wired for visual analysis, and we enjoy glitter.
I can't help thinking that dogs must feel the same way about odors as we feel about our images. Maybe if we could comprehend their smell art, then we would come to see dogs in a whole new light.....eh, I mean, smell them in a whole new scent.
.
17 comments:
Nice blog. My dog(s) have had to wear the cone many times. I love the shiny glass. Ohhh, sparkles and light! I have always wished to spend even 5 minutes with the ability to smell like dogs can. What could we learn of the world in just 5 minutes. Lovely.
Now listen up!
We have just seen a film about a Victorian Dean of the Church of England who has flashes of reincarnation as a ......Dog. If you want to imagine how dogs smell scent, what they think of us and you like quirky films I recommend 'Dean Spanley" It has Sam Neill and Peter O Toole in and I was enchanted and wept too. The film was financed by the New Zealand film board. I hope it is available where you are!
Great post
:)
Ah, the dreaded cone. That was quite the touch on the label. No wonder you had to try it. Who wouldn't?
I guess with dogs, their smellers get them closer to the substance of the matter and they might not be so susceptible to packaging as us humans.
Knowing practically nothing about wine, I tend to be drawn to label art. Sadly, cool label art rarely means good wine.
Hope the Yard Dog went down smoothly!
I too am drawn to label art...and really liked this one! The best have a sense of humor. Nice post!
great post....on so many levels....
and we enjoy images animals.....
I can't even count how many bottles of wine I've purchased over the years because of the animal on the label....
glad the wine wasn't disappointing. unfortunately I have learned the animal on the label is no indication of quality and some say to beware of wine with animals on the label....but given my visual sense I don't listen....
No who would have thought to put a dog with a cone on their wine? That's out there...
Hello!
I enjoyed your post! So was the wine any good (in terms of taste that is)?
Take care
peace and love
xoxo
mezmerizing post. lol, on the dog comments. if only we took the same perspective (smell as a dog smells, as you suggest) with the people we came in contact with. nice post.
Great! I am glad I stopped in!
I loved this post! What a great wine label. Our dog, God rest his doggie soul, had to wear one of those lamp shade thingies after his surgery.
That bottle made me laugh so! I know its not funny to see a dog in a surgical cone but it gets me everytime and what a random thing to put on a wine bottle!
Very insightful post in librarian's language that could be translated to don't judge a book by its cover.
I want some!!!!
Everyone, thanks for the great comments!
Ronda- What we'd learn...I bet we'd find out that there was much much we didn't know before.
herhimnbryn- I'm putting Dean Spanley on my Netflix list. Thanks for the tip
Candice- Thanks :)
Zen- Great point. But I wonder if a dog would be more likely to purchase an okay-smelling bottle if it also had, like, a picture of a human with crutches or something.
Diva- I'm like you with the wine. It did go smooth. Thanks.
Leah- Thanks!
mouse- Hmmm. Interesting. Hypothesis: I that the well-known great wines wouldn't need the adornment, but the others that need appealing labels are likely to vary.
VE- lol. That probably is part of what appealed to me too.
Marianna- Hi! I'm definitely no expert (don't even know the adjectives they use), but I liked it well enough that I'd get it again some time.
Brian- About taking the perspective with people...yes indeed! Thanks much.
Colette- Great having you!
willow- I'm sorry for your loss. They really do touch our hearts.
E.L.Writer- I think that the cone makes them a bit clumsey, and only mildly uncomfortable (I think). When our pups have had to use it, they've seemed to take the indignity of it in good humor.
Megan- Go for it!
Kris- ....or an itchy one, perhaps.
Hey-do they export? Looks tasty.
Jo- I figure that they must!
Post a Comment