Showing posts with label Dr. Phillips. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dr. Phillips. Show all posts

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Thanks Vets!

First of all, I already know, I've become terrible at this blog thing. You don't have to tell me. My only excuse is, Butler is becoming so successful at everything which makes me in higher demand and thus, I just don't have as much time to sit down and write. (That's sort of true.)

But lets be honest, if you're not following me on Twitter, then you're lost anyway, so do yourself a favor and make sure you're checking my "tweets" on a daily basis: www.twitter/com/butlerblue2.

So today, Nov. 11, 2009 is Veteran's Day. After reading the title of this blog you probably thought I was thanking my veterinarians and while they are great people (Thanks Drs. Phillips, Galore and Rowley), today I'm aiming my sincere appreciation to those military veterans who serve and have served our great nation.

A friend of mine sent me a link to a blog called Mental Floss which hosted several videos of soldiers coming home to their "best friends" after their tour of duty. It was moving and something I couldn't help but share with my readership.

Here it is: http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/40324

So on behalf of the entire dog population, let me just say that we too appreciate our veterans' efforts to keep us safe and to serve the land in which we live.

Coincidentally enough, earlier this week I had the opportunity to meet some of Butler University's cadets from the ROTC program. We met up for a photoshoot in preparation for my 2010 Calendar (on sale in the bookstore soon) as I wanted to feature them for the ever-patriotic month of July spread.


We had a good time and I applaud them for their work to not just earn a great education, but to support their country at the same time. It's my honor to feature them in my calendar.

Well, that's about all I have time for at the moment. I've got to get back to my busy schedule of athletic events, guest appearances, and whatever other requests come my way. Make sure you follow along via my Twitter updates!

Otherwise, I hope to see many of you on Saturday as our men's basketball team starts their regular season by hosting Davidson at Hinkle Fieldhouse at 2 p.m.

Go Dawgs, Go USA!

Blue II

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Happy Anniversary and Snow Day!

Happy anniversary and happy snow day to me! The anniversary is in honor of my blogging career and the credit for the snow day goes to Mother Nature, who dropped a foot of snow in my yard over night!

I’ll report on the snow first, since that seems to be the most pressing bit of news in Central Indiana today as it's Indy's biggest snowfall in 13 years and sixth largest in Indy history! After sleeping in a bit today, I ventured outside just to see how deep a foot of snow actually is. And let me tell you, for a bulldog, that some deep snow! As you can tell by the pictures and videos, I had a blast romping around in the stuff.




The snowfall actually got started the evening prior and so I got my first taste of it, literally, on my way out of work. Finally, a healthy dose of that fluffy white precipitation blanketed campus and I got to be around to experience it. It was glorious! Below are a couple of photos of my dad's idea of trying to get me ready for the weather...

And here’s a bit of video of my campus snow fun as well…







For more of my snow frolic videos, be sure to head to BlueTube!

Now, back to the anniversary celebration…in my previous post this month, I failed to mention that January 13th marked the first anniversary of “The Life and Times of Butler Blue II.” In my first year, I (read: my dad) pounded out a total of 89 posts, which averages out to be 1.7 posts per week!

A quick look at the dashboard reveals some pretty telling stats about my blog too. A snap shot of just the last four months (since the release of my “search for the bulldog costume” video) shows that my blog has been visited and read by folks in 60 countries! Amongst the United States and its territories, I’m only missing a visitor from those in Idaho, Wyoming and Alaska…so if anyone knows people in those states, could you tell them about my blog and have them check it out?!

The blog has received a total of 5,500 page views with about 4,664 visits and a bounce rate of 88.8% since September. A bounce rate that high would not be ideal for say, a business, but for a blog it typically means people are just coming in to read the most recent post and then moving on. Thus, I’ve got some repeat offenders, i.e. a solid following.

However, my blog is currently syndicated to http://go.butler.edu/cs, and that adds another 12,257 visits and 18,302 unique page views from the past four months! So all together I’m not doing half bad…consider me an internet superstar!

Perhaps what’s most fun about reviewing the stats is to see how some people stumble upon the blog. In other words, what key words are people using in their Google search that leads them to my blog. Here are some of my favorites from the past four months…and no, I did not make these up.

Some of the most bizarre Google search keywords that have led internet users to my blog include:

- “Cardboard Box”
- “UGA VI Breeder”
- “Turner and Hooch Slime”
- “Is there an IHOP coming to Butler”
- “Buy and English Bulldog of UGA Lineage”
- “Ed Carpenter and Friends”
- “Indianapolis Blues Veterinarian” (Drs. Phillips and Stephan, you can thank me later for that!)
- “Selling Booth at Bulldog Beauty Contest” (Not a bad idea…I may have to pursue that!)
- “Vacuum Covers”
- “Vets for Rooster Food”

Kind of makes you wonder what the most bizarre Google searches are in all of Google. I’m sure there are some real strange ones, to say the least.

Another one year anniversary milestone is also coming up for BlueTube, which was founded on Feb. 28, 2008. Since its founding, the Butler Blue II YouTube channel (aka BlueTube)has logged 37,942 video views!

A special thanks to all of my faithful readers (and viewers) for your support over the last year. I hope that you’ll stick around to enjoy another year of my futile blogging and maybe recruit some friends and colleagues to log on from time to time as well.

In an effort to keep the blog somewhat fresh, I added a new feature in the top left corner which displays my recent status updates that I’ve posted on Twitter. That’s right, I’ve got my own Twitter account, so if you Twitter as well, then be sure to “follow me.” Or, if you find Twitter to be a bit technologically advanced for you, then no worries, that is why I installed that new little widget.

Other than that, I just want to encourage all my readers to feel comfortable using the comments section of the blog. I always love the feedback and the added dialogue tends to led to some better blog posts so knock yourself out!

Moving on, how about those Butler Bulldog basketball teams? Both the men’s and women’s teams have been tearing up the competition like I would an innocent stuffed animal. The women’s team has an overall record of 12-6 with an impressive 7-0 record in Horizon League conference play.

Meanwhile, their male counterparts have racked up an 18-1 record and are also undefeated in the Horizon League with a 9-0 start. Those are both university records making this the fastest start in Butler basketball’s 117 year history! And they’re doing it with a second year head coach, age 31, and his cast of starters that include three freshman, one sophomore and one junior. In fact, there aren’t any seniors on this team! Their impressive play has earned them the 13th spot in the national rankings, which includes both the AP and ESPN polls.

Last Saturday some 9,400 fans, including myself, packed Hinkle Fieldhouse to watch them destroy the Horizon League’s second ranked team, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Panthers. This Friday, Jan. 30th at 7 p.m., the next victim will be the Crusaders of Valparaiso University. You know that you don’t have anything else to do this Friday, so get your butt over to Hinkle for the game…you’ll love it! Its basketball played the right way; The Butler Way.

While I may just be the second, in what we all hope is along line of “Butler Blues,” I may just go out the with the most wins as a “Butler Blue” in all of time. If nothing else, I’ll have a tough reign as mascot to beat by my predecessors!

Speaking of basketball and mascots, at one of the recent games, the official name was finally revealed for Butler’s costumed bulldog mascot, formerly known simply as “Bulldog.” When the university had that whole missing mascot costume fiasco, the local news agencies started referring to that bulldog as “Blue.” That, of course, is incorrect since “Blue” is my name, and I certainly wasn’t missing.

So, a need for name for the costumed mascot was identified and as a result, the “Name that Dawg!” contest was created. After several great submissions and a fantastic voter turnout, the name “Hink” was selected. Why “Hink?” After the late, great Tony Hinkle, of course! Regardless of the name, at least the costume has one now. So, problem solved, right? Wrong.

(photo below by Heather Charles, Indianapolis Star)

“Hink” was announced and what do half the people I stumble upon at subsequent games call me? Yep, “Hink.” I thought Butler people were supposed to be smart. For those keeping score at home, let’s go over this one last time. My name is Butler Blue II, or just “Blue,” for short. Got that? The real looking bulldog that appears to be a living, breathing mammal, (a la ME), is named “Blue.” The over-sized, not-so-bulldog-looking, guy-in-suit version is named “Hink.” This shouldn’t be that hard. Oh, and there will be a test…it’s called life…don’t screw it up.

And while I’m all worked up, let me just chime in on all of those comments I’ve been receiving lately about my weight. I’ve got news for all of you chumps with Chihuahuas, dachshunds, and other ankle biting dogs, I’m exactly where an English Bulldog should be…62 lbs. In fact, I’ve probably weighed between 60-62 lbs. for the last 3-4 years, so no; I have not gained weight this season. Got that? I’m not fat and I’ve not put on weight! Sorry, I just had to get that out of the way and clear the record, yet again.

The topic of my weight is a nice segway into my next item of discussion regarding my new custom tailored Nike jersey. Thanks to the good folks at Nike, the Butler athletic department received a few yards of Butler blue Nike jersey material which is to be used specifically to fashion a new, custom jersey for me. So my dad called up his haberdashery at the Tom James Company and they agreed to fit me and complete the creation and tailoring of the jersey.

Much like UGA’s jersey (pictured below) mine will have a block “B” on the chest, with my name “BLUE” across the back and the Roman Numeral II for my number. Nice! It’s in production now, so when it’s time for a fitting, I’ll be sure to post some pictures and possibly some video. Until then, many thanks to Nike and the Tom James Company for their efforts!

In other recent news, the annual top-10 dog breeds were announced by the American Kennel Club, and not only did the bulldog make the list again this year, but we moved up from 10th to eighth! Remember last year when we made the list we did so after a some 50 year hiatus. So it feels good to be back, and to be moving up! Watch out dime-a-dozen labs, the bulldogs are coming after you for that top spot!

Here’s the official list…

1. Labrador Retrievers
2. Yorkshire Terriers
3. German Shepherd Dogs
4. Golden Retrievers
5. Beagles
6. Boxers
7. Dachshunds
8. Bulldogs
9. Poodles
10. Shih Tzu

Finally, I leave you today with a story from this past summer (July 2008) that I missed regarding a fellow colleague in the bulldog mascot ranks, Chesty the Marine Corps mascot. Chesty called it quits this past summer and hung up the rifle, baton, or whatever piece of weaponry he uses, to enjoy the fruits of retirement. It’s a good story, so be sure to check out the video below. Chesty, I hope that you are enjoying retirement and continuing to live life to the fullest!



I hope to see all of you soon inside Hinkle Fieldhouse for a men’s and/or women’s Butler basketball game!

Until then, Go Dawgs!

Blue II

P.S. Did you see me this past weekend on the intro to ESPN's SportsCenter?

Monday, September 15, 2008

A New Week and the Search Continues

After a busy weekend (which I will get to later) I came back to work refreshed and ready to find those missing Butler Bulldog mascot costumes this week. I was so fired up, that I shredded my red dragon in an attempt to send a message of intimidation to whom ever took these costumes. Here are a couple of pics of the aftermath…



As you can see, I mean business. Substitute the guilty for the red dragon and you get the message that I’m trying to send.

Tomorrow I’ll go from intimidation tactics to more video shooting as I work to make a sequel to my first film from last week, which has over 5,000 hits and counting as of this evening. In this new film I’ll cover the increased reward for the safe return of the mascots as well as follow up on the tips, leads and rumors that have been swirling about campus as to the whereabouts of our beloved costumes. It should be fun and I think you’ll again enjoy the finished product.

Speaking of fun, that’s exactly what I had on Saturday. It all started early in the morning at Hinkle Fieldhouse for the Lugar Run where I did a couple of TV hits on the local CBS affiliate, WISH-TV channel 8. Below are a couple shots from that…



Of course, I am a bulldog, therefore, I do not run, so as I sent the runners and walkers on their way, I got rested up for the OBS Gridiron Brunch and our football season home opener against the Grizzles of Franklin College.

Unfortunately we took it on the chin against Franklin to go 1-1 on the season, so that hurt, but there was some good that came out of the game and that was the Indianapolis Colts’ mascot Blue was there to fill in for our two-legged guy-in-suit bulldog mascot.

You may remember in one of my first blog posts I suggested that this town wasn’t big enough for two “Blues.” I stand corrected. Not only is Indianapolis fit for a pair of “Blues,” but the Butler Bowl can handle it as well.

I was just upset because I came along first and then the Colts created their mascot and gave him the same name. Oh well, it’s all water under the bridge, or as I like to say, water splashed out of the wading pool, at this point.

So my new ally Blue from the Colts came to campus on Saturday to fill in for our missing mascot and lend me a hoof in entertaining the crowd. He also helped me run the team out on the field which was cool. Below is a shot of Blue and I on the sideline.


If that’s not all, Blue and the Colts also ponied-up (pun intended) $1,000 to donate to Riley Hospital for Children should our missing mascot costumes be returned. Classy. Thanks Blue!

After all of that, I took a quick afternoon knap and then headed out to Zionsville, Ind. for a little family gathering with the Kaltenmark side. That pretty much lead to more sleeping (pictured with my mom below).


Then following that, my parents decided to make a late night trek over to visit some friends of my parents where we watched even more college football. I slept some more and enjoyed snacking on a football as you can see below.

All of that made for a very long day so I pretty much slept on Sunday while my parents attended the MotoGP. And that takes me to today where the search for the missing mascots resumed. I also threw up some new videos on BlueTube. Visit www.youtube.com/butlerblue2 to check those out.

There are quite a few videos of a couple new friends (Addison and Xander) that I made last week. I ran into a couple of nine to 10 week old English Bulldog puppies last week, one owned by a Butler student and another owned by Butler alumni. They both are participating in the ninth annual Bulldog Beauty Contest on Oct. 25th.

And speaking of the beauty contest, I’ll conclude with a quick progress report. Again, things seem to be shaping up nicely as we now have 25 dogs registered. Remember, last year we had a record 60 dogs and thanks to my vet, Dr. Kurt Phillips of Woodland Animal Hospital in Carmel, Ind., his staff has sent invitations to 117 bulldog owners who own a total of 254 bulldogs! Dr. Phillips knows bulldogs!

I’m optimistic that with an outreach like that, we can have record turnout again this year. Remember, just email blue2@butler.edu to sign up.

Blue II

Thursday, July 17, 2008

My First Trip to Tennessee

For maybe just the third or fourth time in my life, I got to leave the state of Indiana last weekend! I’ve been to Ohio a couple of times to visit family and friends, but that’s it, until this past weekend when my parents took me down to Tennessee!

Unfortunately, we didn’t get over to Knoxville, Tenn. so that I could call on Smokey, but we did make it all the way down to Nashville/Nolensville, Tenn. to stay with my good friend, Reese (Peanut Butter Cup) the miniature daschund and her parents Jason and Betsy Weatherly.


It was also the first time that I got to go along with my parents for a race weekend as my dad was going there with Vision Racing to work the Firestone Indy 200 at Nashville Superspeedway.
I didn’t end up getting to go to the track with him, but I probably could have. I had my credential (Its true. See picture below) and Ed Carpenter (2003 Butler grad) had his motor coach there with the A/C running. It could have worked!


Instead I stayed back at the Weatherly residence and tired myself out playing with Reese. Her and I are like a regular “Milo and Otis,” so to speak. I enjoy stealing her toys, she enjoys stealing my food and we both like to chase each other around the furniture as displayed in the video below. Ahh, good times.

It was a good weekend and fun for me to get away with my parents for once. I had such a good time and wore myself out so much that I slept the entire way home.

Yep, for the 5+ hour ride home, instead of sleeping on the back seat, I laid down on the floorboard in the back and sawed logs all the way home. I only got up once when we stopped for a quick potty break.

Other than that the past couple of weeks have been fairly uneventful. I’ve just passed the time by taking naps and tearing up my toys around the office. Below is a picture and evidence of the destruction. The victim in those pictures was an alligator of mine, which has actually been in my stash of office toys for probably two years. I finally decided it was time to cause havoc on the poor gator. I was particularly proud of myself that day.

On Wednesday morning I had to go visit the vet b/c my mom found a chipped tooth underneath all my defining flabs and wrinkles. My parents are kind of sensitive about my teeth because well, I don’t have that many, and because one time I broke a molar in half and had to have it removed before it caused infection. What can I say, I’m a British bulldog…I naturally have bad teeth.

Anyway, a tip of one of my fangs has been chipped and the tooth is starting to die (don’t worry, you can’t see it…my flab covers it). Dr. Kurt Phillips (a Butler grad) at Woodland Animal Hospital in Carmel, Ind. said that it looked fine and as long as it wasn’t causing me any pain, then my health was not in jeopardy. He said a doggy dentist would want to do a root canal and cap it, which he said at this stage was excessive.

I was happy to oblige with the no-treatment route and be on my merry way. (In the picture it might be hard to tell that my fang is chipped, but you can start to see the discoloration caused by the slow death of the tooth.)


Speaking of the vet, I think I may have failed to mention that I was there a while back for my annual check-up…shots/vaccinations, ears, eyes, etc. I weighed 62 lbs. and received a clean bill of health. I also got a new jangle to my jingle with my updated rabies vacc. tag (pictured).

This weekend my parents are headed off to the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course for another race and a bit of camping. I love to camp and you’d think that this would be one of the races that I’d get to go to as it’s probably the most conducive venue on the circuit to having dogs around. But, the owners of the place must not like dogs or something because pets aren’t allowed at Mid-Ohio.

So, that means I’ll be headed north again (read: Wabash, Ind.) to spend some time with both the Kaltenmark and Richards grandparents. I’m so lucky to have such a loving place to go. I’m looking forward to the attention, sleeping-in and special treats!

To get ready I spent a lot of quality time with my parents last night. I got a bath and was thoroughly furminated. Then we went outside on the back deck where we all got on the swing and enjoyed listening to the locusts and just hanging out.

Today I have another piano camp photo-op and that’s about it. So I’ll probably just nap, eat, bark at inanimate objects, shred some toys or boxes, sleep some more and just hang out. It’s hard being me. Luckily I’m up for the task.


I hope your summer is going as well as mine is. The weatherman says that it’s only supposed to warm up over the next few days so crank up that A/C, keep cool and apply sunscreen liberally.

Blue II

Sunday, April 6, 2008

Jeremy Piven - The Next Addition to my Wall of Fame

You may remember back on January 30 I mentioned in my blog that I was so busy and booked with appearances that I might want to employ the services of a manager, and not just any manager, but the infamous Ari Gold of HBO’s Entourage.

Well, on Thursday of this past week, I did jus that as Ari Gold made a visit to Butler University.

I suppose that in a fictional world I would have made it happen and I might have even been on the next episode of Entourage; running around with Vince, Eric, Turtle and Drama.

But this is reality, and in the real world, the famed actor who plays Ari Gold, the Golden Globe winning Jeremy Piven, came to campus on Thursday in support of presidential candidate, Barack Obama.

If you are unfamiliar with Piven’s fast-talking and often vulgar mega agent role as Ari Gold in Entourage, then perhaps you may remember him from such movies as PCU, Old School, Black Hawk Down and Smokin’ Aces.

Jeremy spoke in the Reilly Room at Atherton Union and got in and out before I could catch him, but I was able to track him down out in the parking lot to “hug it out” and pose for a quick photo. He was very welcoming and was quite complimentary of me.

Of course, Jeremy’s no stranger to the English Bulldog, after all, he’s been spotted around Hollywood with a bulldog pup of his own and he attended Drake University…also the bulldogs.

A special thanks to Jeremy for posing for pictures and for being so cordial. I will get some pictures from the encounter uploaded on the blog very soon.

In case you missed it, Butler Bulldog and NCAA men’s college basketball all-star, Mike Green, was honored this past week with two national awards: the Chip Hilton Award and the Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award.

Not to mention, Mike also played in the DiGiorno College All-Star Game at the Alamodome in San Antonio on Friday. In addition, fellow senior guard, A.J. Graves participated in the 20th Annual State Farm 3-Point Championship; making it to the semi-finals.

Congratulations to both of those guys…I’m going to miss you both next year. Hey Mike, now that you are done with Butler basketball, can I get a play date with your doggie, Miss Hoops Green?!

Sorry it has been a while since my last post. I have been busy making rounds with my on-call medical staff. I met with Butler grad, Dr. Kurt Phillips on Wednesday at Woodland Animal Hospital in Carmel, Ind. for a check-up on my ear infection. The infection is gone, but there’s still some bacteria in there so I got some special antibacterial wipes for that. I also got my nails trimmed while I was there.

On Thursday morning I got to visit Dr. Deborah Stephan at Indianapolis Veterinarian Specialists in Castleton. She took a look at my eyes and found that they were too dry so I got some ointment and drops for that.

It was great to go to the vet…I love it! I got lots of treats, love and great care. A special thanks to Dr. Phillips and Dr. Stephan, as always, for their great support of me and Butler!

This weekend has been a lot of fun for me. I got to go to Wabash, Ind. to stay with my Grandma and Grandpa Richards house for the occasion of my cousin Andrew’s birthday.

I got to ride the four-wheeler for a while which is one of my favorite things. It had been since last fall since I’d been on the four-wheeler and I was ready…so much so that when I heard it, I ran outside and even jumped up on it myself!

After my four-wheeler ride and went over to Andrew’s house where his Grandma and Grandpa Dinkins had their dog, Pete. I had never met Pete before, but we hit it off really well and played very hard.

Talk about a perfect weekend…the spoiling of grandparents, four-wheeler rides and play time with fellow four-legged friends. What’s not to like?!

I have another busy week ahead of me. Monday I have a H.S. Junior Preview Day with the Office of Admission and a video shoot for the ButlerRising Campaign. Tuesday I have a freshman recruitment party for the College of Education and a Rotary Club meeting down at the Scottish Rite Cathedral. On Wednesday and Thursday I will do my usual thing and on Friday, I have another early registration event.

I’ll keep the blog updated with the aforementioned fun this week. It should be a good time!

Blue II

Saturday, February 16, 2008

Game Day Illustrated

The Butler Bulldogs took down Horizon League conference foe, Cleveland State, on Saturday afternoon by the score of 51-46. It appeared that a lot of you took my advice and came to Hinkle Fieldhouse for the game. There was a crowd of more than 8,000, which included those participating in Alumni Day, so thanks for coming out.

I thought I might provide a quick recap of the game via pictures and captions. Here it goes...


Pre-game nap with my squeaky cow

Packed house for Alumni Day


Coach Stevens speaks at Alumni Day


I ran into my buddy, Julian Phillips, son of my vet, Dr. Phillips, at Alumni Day too.


After my appearances in the West Gym for Alumni Day and Bulldog Club/OBS Donor Hospitality, I went ahead and made my way over to see the cheerleaders to give them a little pre-game pep talk.



After that, it was game time where I do my usual starting lineup routine, and stop by the Dawg Pound for the big bone. But you've all seen that before, so here's a shot during a break in the game...nothing better than a big crowd at Hinkle Fieldhouse on a Saturday afternoon with the sun shining through the rafters.



Best seat in the house!



A little post-game fun on the court with the kids



After all of that, it's back home to rest...and another day at the office is in the books for this dog.


Okay, so there's a lot of other stuff that goes on that wasn't captured, but these were the pics that my dad had time to snap, so they'll have to do. I hope you enjoyed it.

Blue II

P.S. Keep an eye on those NCAA men's basketball rankings on Monday. In the AP Poll, Butler is ranked 9th. On Saturday, No. 7 Stanford, No. 8 Georgetown and No. 10 Michigan State all went down in defeat. We could see a new highest ranking for the Butler men's basketball program...stay tuned!