By the CD here, trust me.
Showing posts with label Inspiration. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Inspiration. Show all posts
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Saturday, October 11, 2008
SEATTLE ARBORETUM: COLOR
Jason, Tom, and myself went for a nice little walk through the Arboretum and it was just a beautiful, crisp, October day.
PEE-WEE'S BIG ADVENTURE - ALAMO TOUR
Another formative movie of my childhood, I've seen this a hundred times! "Can you say adobe?" This scene is of Pee-Wee on his search to find his stolen bike, and being told by a sham fortune teller than his bike would be found in the "basement of the Alamo".
FLIGHT OF THE PENGUINS - THANK YOU RESCUERS
Flying penguins are unusual. Especially when they fly on a C-130 Hercules military plane.
Almost 400 lost Magellanic penguins march back to the sea after being rescued by animal-welfare groups.
In Brazil, 373 young Magellanic penguins were rescued, rehabilitated and released last weekend after their search for food left them stranded, hundreds of miles from their usual feeding grounds.
Animal-welfare activists loaded the birds onto a Brazilian air force cargo plane and flew them 1,550 miles to the country's southern coast, where a crowd of onlookers celebrated as the penguins marched back into the sea.
"We are overjoyed to see these penguins waddle back to the ocean and have a second chance at life," said veterinarian Dr. Valeria Ruoppolo of the International Fund for Animal Welfare, the group that oversaw the rescue. See photo gallery of rescued penguins »
Magellanic penguins are warm-weather birds that breed in large colonies in southern Argentina and Chile. The young animals then migrate north between March and September, following their favorite fish, the anchovy. The birds are named after Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan, who first saw them in 1519.
But changes in currents and water temperature apparently confused the juvenile birds, who strayed too far north to the warm beaches of Salvador, Brazil, 870 miles north of Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Starting in mid-July, in the northeastern Brazilian state of Bahía, "It was just about raining penguins," Ruoppolo said. "There was not much of a food supply. The birds were stranded and emaciated. They had lost all their muscles and body condition."
While occasionally a few birds show up so far north, the unusual sight of hundreds of wayward penguins posed a challenge for animal conservation groups.
"We had to learn how to work with them," said Carlos Garcia, a spokesman for IBAMA, the Brazilian Institute for Environment and Renewable Resources. "Fewer than 20 penguins usually wash ashore, but with such a large number, we had to really understand their biology and learn how to treat them."
The Instituto Mamíferos Aquáticos (Institute for Aquatic Mammals) also fed and cared for the hungry and disoriented birds.
Ruoppolo, who is also the emergency relief officer for IFAW, has a lot of experience saving penguins and other animals injured in oil spills. Last week she worked with conservation groups and volunteers to save as many of the birds as possible.
"We showed them how to stabilize the animals, to feed them and give them proper care," she said. Healthy Magellanic penguins grow to about 27 inches tall and weigh about 9 pounds.
Ruoppolo said IBAMA -- the government's environmental authority -- and the Brazilian military were supportive throughout the unusual relocation mission.
On Friday, the penguins were loaded into special crates and put onto the plane for the journey to Pelotas, in southern Brazil. After their first-ever flight, the birds went on a truck ride to the Center for Recovery of Marine Animals, where they rested for 24 hours.
The birds released at Cassino Beach the next day had to meet very specific health criteria, said Ruoppolo.
"Their feathers had to be waterproof, their overall body condition had to be good, their lungs healthy, and they had to be able to catch food," she said.
The youngsters had some adult supervision for their return to the wild. They were released with a small group of adult penguins that had been nursed back to health after surviving an oil spill. Scientists expect the older birds will help guide the little ones to nearby feeding grounds.
Some penguins are still being cared for, both in the north and south of Brazil. The newly released birds have bands on their flippers so scientists can follow their progress and learn more about their migratory habits.
Of more than 1,600 penguins that washed ashore in northern Brazil, about half are still alive. That is a fairly good outcome, given the fragile status of young birds on their first migration, said Ruoppolo.
"For all species you have animals that die within the first year," she said.
And without quick human intervention, the consequences would have been much worse. At this point there is no way to know exactly why the animals became stranded.
While the Magellanic penguin population is not in jeopardy because of this one event, Ruoppolo said there are other threats, primarily from overfishing.
(Source)
Friday, October 10, 2008
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Thursday, October 2, 2008
ROSIE O'DONNELL TO HOST A VARIETY SHOW ON NBC, AIRING NOVEMBER 26
Go Ro! Rosie O’Donnell is returning to television as host of a live variety show on NBC.
The network will air “Rosie’s Variety Show” as an hour-long special the night before Thanksgiving, with an eye toward expansion to a full series should viewers embrace the project.
The special will feature celebrity guests, musical acts, comedy skits and a prize give-away for the show’s in-studio and home audiences.
O'Donnell called the chance to host a primetime variety skein "a dream come true — old-time variety, live from New York, with a nod to Ed Sullivan, Carol Burnett and memories of Sonny and Cher."
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Saturday, September 27, 2008
LISTEN TO THIS: RACHAEL YAMAGATA "ELEPHANTS"
Quiet, tranquil, poignant - give it a listen. Just stunning.
You can buy the EP here.
R.I.P. PAUL NEWMAN
Sadness. Paul Newman died at 83 at his home in CT. We'll miss you Paul.
The Newman Foundation issued this statement:
"Paul Newman's craft was acting. His passion was racing. His love was his family and friends. And his heart and soul were dedicated to helping make the world a better place for all. Paul had an abiding belief in the role that luck plays in one's life, and its randomness. He was quick to acknowledge the good fortune he had in his own life, beginning with being born in America, and was acutely aware of how unlucky so many others were. True to his character, he quietly devoted himself to helping offset this imbalance. An exceptional example is the legacy of Newman's Own. What started as something of a joke in the basement of his home, turned into a highly-respected, multi-million dollar a year food company. And true to form, he shared this good fortune by donating all the profits and royalties he earned to thousands of charities around the world, a total which now exceeds $250 million. While his philanthropic interests and donations were wide-ranging, he was especially committed to the thousands of children with life-threatening conditions served by the Hole in the Wall Camps, which he helped start over 20 years ago. He saw the Camps as places where kids could escape the fear, pain and isolation of their conditions, kick back, and raise a little hell. Today, there are 11 Camps around the world, with additional programs in Africa and Vietnam. Through the Camps, well over 135,000 children have had the chance to experience what childhood was meant to be.
"We will miss our friend Paul Newman, but are lucky ourselves to have known such a remarkable person."
Thursday, September 25, 2008
CLAY AIKEN TALKS ABOUT BEING GAY AND BEING A FATHER
Click here to watch the video.
Good for you Clay! And Claymates, simmer down - he's still the same person. Whether you like or loathe his music, nothing has changed. If anything, you'll get to experience more of him now and if you truly love him, you'll love that he can be himself honestly.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
DOG CALLS 911
PHOENIX -- "Man's best friend" doesn't go far enough for Buddy - a German shepherd who remembered his training and saved his owner's life by calling 911 when the man had a seizure.
And it's not the first time Buddy has been there for owner Joe Stalnaker, a police officer said Sunday.
On a recording of the 911 call Wednesday, Buddy is heard whimpering and barking after the dispatcher answers and repeatedly asks if the caller needs help.
"Hello, this is 911. Hello ... Can you hear me? Is there somebody there you can give the phone to," says the dispatcher, Chris Trott.
Police were sent to Stalnaker's home, and after about three minutes Buddy is heard barking loudly when the officers arrived.
Scottsdale police Sgt. Mark Clark said Stalnaker spent two days in a hospital and recovered from the seizure.
"It's pretty incredible," Clark said. "Even the veteran dispatchers - they haven't heard of anything like this."
Clark said police are dispatched whenever 911 is called, but that Stalnaker's address was flagged in Scottsdale's system with a notification that a trained assistance dog could call 911 when the owner was incapacitated.
Clark said Stalnaker adopted Buddy at the age of 8 weeks from Michigan-based Paws with a Cause, which trains assistance dogs, and trained him to get the phone if he began to have seizure symptoms. Buddy, now 18 months old, is able press programmed buttons until a 911 operator is on the line, Clark said.
Clark said Buddy has made two other 911 calls when Stalnaker was having seizures.
He said Stalnaker's seizures are the result of a head injury he suffered about 10 years ago during a military training exercise.
Stalnaker was not listed in the phone book, and he did not immediately respond to a request through police for an interview.
(Source)
Friday, September 12, 2008
SHOTS OF THE "KIDS"
Olive (the littlest), Wilbur (the brindle Boston), and Edna (the seal-colored Boston).
A VIEW FROM THE OFFICE
Sometimes when your job is really getting you down, you have to look for the joy in it. Whether that be the people, the vending machines, the paycheck, or simply the view - you have to try to find something. Today, I found this view.
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