In the Headlights

Animal Magnetism

I've written about Cedarhill Animal Sanctuary, in New Caledonia, Mississippi, several times in the past.

Kay McElroy, the founder has dedicated most of her live to rescuing cats of all sizes from unhappy situations.  Many of these are exotic animals, like "pet" tigers and lions, which silly (to give them the benefit of the doubt) people buy, then can't handle, then abuse and abandon. 

I've been a contributor for years, and for a long time, Shawn Lea and I have talked about taking a road trip up to the sanctuary.  Shawn lives in Jackson, MS, so it would be a short jump upstate from there.

Kay McElroy with her caring staff tends to the animals, feeds them, nurtures and loves them, finds funds for surgeries and medical care, and medication.  They have recently expanded space so the tigers have room to roam and a big pool to cool themselves in.

After Katrina, they took in a lot of stray animals, mostly cats.  I keep harping on cats, but they've also cared for horses, pigs, dogs, almost any sick, homeless creature.

Here's a YouTube Gallery of films from Cedarhill.  Click on "Snow White and Cinderella" to get a look at two tigers being released  from lives in a cage into a spacious, grassy enclosure.  It brought tears to my eyes.

Because of her tremendous work, Kay is one of ten finalists for Animal Planet's Cat Hero of the Year Award.  I don't know the others, but none can be as deserving.  She's the only finalist who cares for exotic cats.  At the sanctuary, there are more than 300 animals, including 12 tigers, 5 lions, 4 cougars, 2 bobcats, a wolf, and more than 200 domestic cats, 30 dogs, and 6 horses.

In addition to caring for the animals, she is active in changing the law.  After four years, a law she authored, the Exotic Animal Welfare Law passed, making it illegal to hold exotic animal auctions or canned hunts in Mississippi.

Please send Kay a vote of support here.  She's fourth from the top.  Then click "submit" at the bottom.  That's all there is to it.

When she wins, Kay will receive $5000 (a drop in the bucket, really....less than a week's food) from Fresh Step Litter and Animal Planet, and be filmed showing how the prize is used, for airing on Animal Planet.

Voting ends at 11:59 PM on October 8.  You can only vote once.  Please vote now and tell your friends.  An animal will thank you.  (Kay too.  Me too.)

[The video shows various animals arriving at Cedarhill, and some great footage of Valentino the lion rolling around on his back like a kitten.]

Oscar Fever

It's been years since I've had Oscar fever.  I just assumed I'd become immune to it.  There are a number of reasons.  I'm usually bored by the entertainmnet, it drags on and on, and I get up really early the next morning.  Staying up until midnight usually guarantees a miserable next day.

It will be on ABC tomorrow, and since I live on the East Coast, it won't air until 8:30 P.M.  I'm going to give it a try and suffer through Monday.  There are several reasons. 

The first is that Al Gore is up for the Academy Award for best documentary for An Inconvenient Truth.  And I heard or read that if/when he gets the award, he may announce that he will make a run for the presidency in the next election.  I think he'd be a great president, and would hate to miss such an announcement.  Plus, they usually give the Oscar for best documentary pretty early in the show, so I could then turn off the TV and go to sleep.

The other reason is that I really liked Little Miss Sunshine,  which is the only movie I've seen that is up for best picture. It was hilarious.  Not that I really think I can stay awake until the very end of the show, which is when they always give the award for best picture.  Sandy and I almost saw The Queen, but watched An Inconvenient Truth on DVD instead.  Another movie I'd like to see is Notes on a Scandal  (Cate Blanchett is up for best supporting actress, Dame Judi Dench for best actress for that one).  Eventually. 

And Scorsese.  He should have gotten an Best Director Oscar decades ago for Taxi Driver (for which he wasn't nominated).  It's about time.

Finally, while I can miss all the stars, and can really miss Celine Dion unveiling a new song, I do like host Ellen DeGeneres, and figure she and Al Gore can keep me entertained, at least for a couple of hours.

If Gore announces his candidacy, it will be history in the making.  I'm not sure if this is the best time to make such an announcement.  It might be better to bask in the limelight as an environmentalist for a month or two, and then be "convinced" to run.  I do think if he decides to run, he can have the freshness of a new pol, without a bunch of baggage accumulated in the last 7 years, along with the attraction of a savvy elder statesman.  If he runs, he definitely has my backing.  That should take him a long way, eh?

I know it when I see it

Last night on Monday Night Football, the New Orleans Saints played the Atlanta Falcons.  The Goo Goo Dolls, U2 and Green Day entertained and former President Bush performed the coin toss.

The site is the Superdome which is 27 stories high and covers 52 acres, and cost $143 million in federal, state and private funds to refurbish. 

Excuse me.  Does anyone but me think this is obscene?  In an affluent country where we can't feed all our people or protect the citizens, in a city where some are still without adequate shelter, the thing in ravaged New Orleans that gets the money is a football stadium.  $143 million.

Maybe it will bring attention and tourists to the area, but the money the stadium itself generates will go to the owners and players.  There is no better known city or tourist Mecca than New Orleans at its best.  I can't speak for private dollars, but the public money should have gone to rebuild and improve the city.  That will bring more tourist dollars and life back to the city that ten stadiums.

Is it the symbol of New Orleans' rebirth?  Why not have the real thing instead of a symbol?

$143 million.  Even in today's dollars, that's real money.

You Either Soar with the Eagles, or You Dance with the Turkeys

Last night, I got a call from Sandy.  "Turn your TV on, quick, "Dancing With the Stars" is on.  So I turned on the tube and found the show.

In the hour before I turned it off, I got to see Emmitt Smitt dance, Tucker Carlson not dance, and unfortunately missed seeing the effort of the former Mayor of Cincinnatti, Jerry Springer.

Carlson took a lot of heat, because he mostly sat while his partner danced.  But sometimes it is better to stay put than to eliminate all doubt.

Tucker Carlson is not without his supporters, though.  After Tom DeLay endorsed Sara Evans, the Reverend Al Sharpton came out in support of Carlson.

After the fact, Carlson did a pretty funny interview with George Hamilton about doing these shows.  I always thought Hamilton was pretty one dimesional.  OK, maybe two.  He was pretty witty in this, though. You have to go to the link, then click on the video, which is worth the effort.  I haven't figured out how to import videos into the blog yet.  Someday.

I got bored before Jerry Springer came on and turned off the tube.  A shame, really.  I was curious about how he'd do.  I've heard him in a straight interview, and contrary to his smarmy image, he was intelligent, thoughtful and funny.  Not that any of that makes him a dancer.

Turns out he was better than Tucker Carlson.  Or Sara Evans.  That's enough to make me happy.  Pretty egalitarian bottom end.  Carlson and his partner finished dead last with a score of 12, and Evans and hers second to last with a 15.  Springer and his partner came in third from the bottom.  And NFL great Emmitt Smith came in second from the top.

I understand that this could all change with audience voting.  In fact, by the time I publish this tomorrow, the results will be in.  Check here to find out.  Let me know if it's anything interesting.

Jumping the Shark

What does it mean?  According to the website, Jump the Shark, "It's a moment.  A defining moment when you know that your favorite television program has reached its peak.  That minute that you know from now on...it's all down hill.  Some call it the climax.  We call it jumping the shark."

The term comes from an infamous 1977 episode of Happy Days when the Fonz was waterskiing in Hollywood and jumped over a shark.  According to Wikipedia, "'jumping the shark' is a metaphor that is used by US TV critics and fans to denote the tipping point at which a TV series is deemed to have passed its peak.  Once a show has 'jumped the shark', fans sense a noticeable decline in quality or feel the show has undergone too many changes to retain its original charm."

Jump the Shark is a website dedicated to recording such moments for current shows. The site was started in 1997, and sold to Gemstar (owners of TV Guide) in 2006.  They look at shark moments in current TV programming, which does little for me as I don't watch much TV, as well as classic shows. 

Most of the readers polled voted on these five shows:

The Simpsons:  Over 1500 voters, ten times those voting for an actual episode, said that the show had never jumped the shark.  Interestingly several episodes included a shark jump. 

Buffy the Vampire Slayer:  Most voters also say this show never jumped, slightly edging out those who thought it jumped the shark after the "Death of Tara" episode.

Friends:  Likewise the majority of Friends watchers said the show never jumped, followed in quick succession by those who thought the turning point was "Day One", followed by "They Did It (Ross and Rachel)", "They Did It (Chandler and Monica)", and "I Do (Chandler and Monica).

The X-Files:  The majority, boring as they are, once again say the show never jumped, followed by a group that say it jumped when the movie was made.

Mash:  Never jumped, followed by "Alan Alda's Moralizing", and "Death (Henry Blake)."

Notable shark jumps:

Dick York in for Dick Sargent on Bewitched.
Laverne and Shirley head for L.A.
Chrissie says goodbye to Jack and Janet on Three's Company.
Felicity gets it cut.

The site is fun, particularly if you have an opinion on such things.  Get over there and vote.  Don't you know how important your vote is?

Woohoo, Boohoo

I'm starting to get World Cup fever.  It's been building up, but so far I haven't seen any games.  I do watch some during the regular season as my folks are big fans, so if I'm visiting and there's a game on, we watch it.

So I made a point of turning on the TV today to watch the first U.S. game in the World Cup.  Everything I've read indicates that the U.S. team is a strong one.

Imagine my chagrin, then when 6'8" forward Jan  Koller of the Czech Republic slipped a goal under the nose of the great Eddie Pope.  And my horror when the Czech Republic scored a again in minute 36 with a 40 yarder by Tomas Rosicki.  Koller was sidelined by a what looked like a hamstring injury in the first half.  He's a formidable player.  Hopefully his injury won't keep him out for the rest of the Cup.  Koller injured  ligaments in his left knee last September in a match, and spent four months in rehab.

In the 76th minute, Rosicki kicked a second goal, just as the U.S. team looked like they might be garnering some mojo.  No such head of steam appeared, as the Czechs kicked our butts 3-0. 

We have until Saturday to rub salve (or salt) in our wounds.  We play Italy at 2:30 PM.  Woohoo.

[Air currents around soccer ball travelling at 40 miles-per-hour via Fluent]