Sticks and stones

Dissing Rhode Island has long been an American pastime, dating back to Colonial days, when Massachusetts Puritans derisively referred to the colony of eccentrics, mystics, misfits and religious exiles as Rogue's Island. Then, as now, our neighbors in the Bay and Nutmeg states did most of the slagging. Massachusetts Bay Colony Calvinist Cotton Mather was the Shakespeare of the Rhody put-down, producing at least two classic insults, calling Rhode Island "the fag end of the universe" and "the cesspool of New England." As recently as 2000, in the pages of Smithsonian magazine, a Connecticut writer called for the abolition of Rhode Island as a state. Of course, the jealousies of our border states may be prompted by missing out on better beaches, better kitsch and a better sense of humor.

Squiggy, the Ugly Dog

Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder, but ugly is universal. Squiggy, a canine from Exeter, is vying for the title of "World's Ugliest Dog." A mix of hairless Chinese crested and Japanese chin, Squiggy has a spiky mohawk and a face only a mother could love. He's missing most of his teeth, causing his tongue to hang out lopsided. The unofficial mascot of the Pet Refuge Animal Shelter in North Kingstown, Squiggy was adopted through a rescue in 2006 at six weeks of age. This Monday, he'll march with the "Dogs of Wickford" in the North Kingstown Memorial Day Parade. For now, he ranks third in the online contest sponsored by the Sonoma-Marin Fair of California. But in true Rhode Island "Underdog" fashion, he's not giving up. Squiggy's pressing the flesh regularly in Wickford, where the strolling masses stop to greet him. He also appears at pet expos, charity dog walks and in animal shelters across the state. He's even got his own line of merchandise.

Would you vote for this dog?

Blog love

Blog on the Half Shell may be anchored in Rhode Island, but the world is our quahog. So we were thrilled to appear last week in The Boston Globe's travel blog, Globe-trotting, thanks to the good word put in by my friend Chris Murphy, who works on the travel desk at the Globe and Boston.com. My reader will now have company. Clams got legs!

In that same giving spirit, Blog on the Half Shell isn't the only scenic detour in the Rhody blogosphere. Those interested in following the Ocean State's political scene should check out Not for Nothing, a news blog by the estimable Ian Donnis of the Providence Phoenix. Art and preservation collide at Art in Ruins, an artist-as-activist Web site chronicling the demise of some of the state's most beloved landmarks and buildings. And for an extended road trip through the wild, the weird and the wicked Rhode Island, visit the folks at Quahog.

Rat 'sori'

The following "size of Rhode Island" reference comes from the online edition of the San Bernardino County Sun of California, courtesy of my friend and Rhody renaissance man, Tom Viall:

"The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is proposing cutting the habitat set aside for the endangered San Bernardino kangaroo rat by two-thirds.

"Under the proposal, the designated critical habitat for the kangaroo rat would be reduced to approximately 10,500 acres from more than 33,000 acres in San Bernardino and Riverside counties, according to a report by the federal agency.

"The species historically occupied 326,467 acres, an area about one third the size of Rhode Island."