11/05/07 2008 Dog Calendar Unleashed
09/19/07 2008 Dog Calendar Winners
10/19/06 2007 Dog Calendar Winners
09/29/06 Carmel-by-the-Sea’s Canine Casting Call
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 26, 2006
Carmel-by-the-Sea’s Canine Casting Call
Carmel, CA—Carmel has gone to the dogs…
He can’t quite remember when the foot of the bed became the floor, but it doesn’t really matter as long as he’s near. He likes keeping you safe; it makes him feel important. And the truth of it, were he able to tell you, is it makes him feel safe, too.
But when morning comes and that clear Carmel light starts streaming through the shutters, he’s lured to that one bright spot behind the dining room table where the sun warms his coat and soothes him back to sleep until it’s time to go to the Post Office.
The jangle of your keys is all he needs to stir him from his slumber and send him hurtling toward the door, both ready and waiting. He’s learned not to resist the leash since it gets him out the door, and he’s even willing to keep stride with you, pause every time you stop to chat your way up the street and wait quietly by the man who whistles while you wander inside to retrieve your mail.
Especially since his good behavior will earn him a cookie at most storefronts and maybe even an afternoon at the beach.
He knows about the morning group, that elite cadre of canines who show up practically before the birds to get in a little romp and happenstance until their people have finished their coffee and conversation. But he’s a member of the afternoon alliance, that crew of motley mutts who ease into morning then meet to run amok along the shore. With the wind in his face and the sand in his fur, he is living his bliss by the sea.
He is a Carmel Canine, one of the most precious, pampered pets in the world. Or, at least on the Peninsula. This commitment to canines is why several artists: Gerrica Connolly, Constance Coleman, Bill Tossetti, Ruthie Deoudes, Gustavo Torres among them, paint pups or draw dogs or cast canines; why art galleries and specialty shops keep a pet pillow in the window, why certain shopkeepers hide a cache of biscuits at the counter or place water dishes at the door, and why, only in Carmel will you encounter an annual Canine Calendar.
Every dog has his day.
This Saturday, Oct. 14, Carmel-by-the-Sea will host its annual “Carmel Dog Calendar Casting Call,” an afternoon of pet pageantry and genuine judging on Carmel Beach. Staged a la “American Idol Meets Westminster Kennel Club” at the foot of Ocean Ave., pet owners and their pride will line up for the chance to demonstrate why Ginger, Edie, Mac, Jake, Stewart and Sassy, Tinker Toy, Bruce, Ian and Annie, Noelle, Lola and Simba, Charlie, Ky, Sydney, Rusti, Marisa or Miss Maggie May measure up to be photographed as a “canine companion” in the 2007 calendar.
Jake carries his own lunch, every day, from Fifth Avenue Deli to his chair at Galerie Plein Aire. Charlie looks like a Steiff toy and knows it. Marisa, on her tuffet at Chapman Gallery is, quite simply, regal. Edie is a model for print ads and apparently has honed a song-and-dance routine. All important attributes for the talent portion of the competition.
Hosted by Carmelite and newscaster Erin Clark, the casting will be determined by a panel of dedicated and dog-savvy judges: Walt DeFaria, Denny Levett and Sherrie McCullough.
“I’m delighted to be one of the judges,” said DeFaria. “You know, W.C. Fields used to say you never want to act with children or dogs, and there was a lot of wisdom in that because people pay more attention to children and dogs than they do the actors quite often.”
“I’ve had a lot of fun in the past casting dogs in two productions of Oliver and about two other productions in some of the youth musicals that I do, so I feel like an old hen when it comes to picking out a good-looking dog. I don’t know what a dog’s life is, but I’m certain this is going to be a great moment in some dog’s life.”
Here’s how it works at the casting event. Once registered, entrants and their owners will collect their casting number before lining up for their turn in front of the camera. A question or two, a quick assessment of all that distinguishes your dog, and a Kodak moment, and your dog will be in the running. So to speak.
So practice the sad eyes and the furrowed brow, the head tilt and the crossed paws, the sit, the stay, the beg and the bark, and your dog just might be in pictures, baby!
If you go:
What: Carmel Dog Calendar Casting Call
When: Saturday, Oct. 14 from 2 to 4p.m.
Where: Carmel Beach at the foot of Ocean Ave., Carmel
Cost: $10 per entry (50% of fee benefits SPCA of Monterey County)
Registration: Visit www.CarmelDogCalendar.com or at the event
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CONTACT
Jeff Burghardt, president
Anda-Burghardt Advertising
(831) 646-9200
Fax (831) 646-9300
jeff@abadvertising.com
