Urchin

A Beach In Manhattan?

A Beach IN Manhattan? Well ummm yeah..
Chris Carrara of the blog The East Village Idiot writes of his adventure..

"I decided to skip out of work around lunchtime today and head to one of the many fine beaches in New York to put my feet in the sand and soak up the rays.

Unfortunately, this beach was a little too cramped for my tastes."

Click Here for the exciting conclusion.. :)

Thanks Rick!

Bratz vs Barbie, cute videos on You Tube

It's Fakey Friday! Dolls are fake people right? :)
I am not a fan of how Mattel conducts themselves like big bullies so I am passing along the links to these cute videos friends of mine, Furjay and Alcy from Bratz World did:

If they don't launch go to the direct page:
Watch their great video here And the other great video here!! :)

Today Show's Cutest Pup Crowned! :)

ALL pups are cute, but the readers voted for this Poppet!

The winning pup: Oliver James Gray, with 13,077 votes
A few words from Oliver's owner, Brian Gray: [Oliver] loves to cuddle with his family on the couch and adamantly claims his share of the bed. It’s quite obvious that Oliver can’t tell the difference between beagles and people! One of the most interesting and entertaining things about Oliver is his addiction to green beans. Our vet told us to feed them to him as a healthy snack and now it’s a nightly ritual that can’t be broken. Starting around 8:30pm every evening he waits/hovers/whines/cries in the kitchen until he gets his snack and it’s always a sheer joy to him when he sees the can. (Yes, he can recognize a can of green beans!)

Check out all the Pups here!!
*smooch on the cold wet puppy nose to them all!* :)

Tama the Cat Saves the Japanese Railway!

Go Tama Go!
The railway promoted Tama to "super-stationmaster" in January

The highest-ranking female at the Wakayama Electric Railway Co. does nothing more than sit around looking cute, but no one minds because she's single-handedly caused ridership on the struggling transit system to jump more than 10 percent.

Make that single-pawedly.

The miracle worker that's turned the Japanese railway around is a nine-year-old cat. Her name is Tama, she wears a stationmaster cap and she has her own office. And she's responsible for one of the the greatest business turnarounds since Steve Jobs saved Apple.

"She never complains, even though passengers touch her all over the place," company spokesman Yoshiko Yamaki told the Associated Press. "She is an amazing cat. She has patience and charisma. She is the perfect stationmaster."

Before Tama came along, Wakamaya was losing 500 million yen ($4.7 million US) a year as passengers abandoned the Kishigawa line in western Japan. In an effort to staunch the red ink, railway officials all but shut down Kishigawa station.

But Tama stuck around, and the passengers returned.

It didn't happen overnight. Railway officials laid off the station's staff in April 2006, but Tama -- whose mother was a stray that lived at the station -- didn't leave. She became a popular fixture among riders, and railway officials formally named her "stationmaster" in January 2007.

Cats are considered good luck in Japan, and Tama's promotion made her a national sensation. Tourists flocked to the station to take pictures and buy souvenirs -- postcards, erasers, notebooks and pins. Ridership rose 17 percent in the month after her appointment, and rose another 10 percent the following year.

Thrilled by her performance, the railway promoted Tama to "super-stationmaster" in January, and she is "the only female in a managerial position."

"She now holds the fifth-highest position in the company," Yamaki told AFP. Tama got her own office -- a renovated ticket booth -- in April during a ceremony that the president of the railway and the mayor of Kinokawa attended. A local grocer looks after Tama, who's salary is paid in cat food, and she works from nine to five with Sundays off.

Tama is slated to appear in a documentary, being directed by Myriam Tonelotto, about amazing cats around the world.

Watch Tama in action here:


If you are in the area go and say hello!
Get the whole story and more links here!

A Little Star for You

Thanks Rick for sending me the cute last picture!

Have a Good Memorial Day!

I hope everyone is having a good holiday and a good Memorial Day.
Animals and Birds have been War Heros

And I just want to bring up the Brave Cher Ami again because June 13 is approaching and I am one of the many supporters of this day being declared National Pigeon Day .

I hope it happens! :)

Brave Cher Ami

The bird who saved the Lost Battalion
Click here for more info and to show your support and be a part of the day June 13th NYC :)

Happy Martian Monday!

A beautiful Martian Skyline. Click the pic for all the updating pix, some coming in color too!
Have a Happy Martian Monday!

New Martian Friends

Tourists
Originally uploaded by Articulate Matter.
Someone on the NASA blog commented they hoped the first Phoenix pic would be a of a big bloodshot eye LOL
What might we see on Mars? Strange creatures..? Will they be nice? Can we pet them? Will they come visit us?
We'll have to wait and see :)

Landing on Mars Today!

So while you are waiting for your veggie burgers to be done these guys are waiting to see if their Phoenix Lander will actually land on Mars! Check in to the Wired Science Blogs today they willl be covering the landing *cross fingers* live!



Barry Goldstein, NASA Project Manager on the Phoenix Mission

Mission System Manager Joe Guinn, photo by Dave Bullock
Go Lander Go! :)

UPDATE!
The Pheonix has Landed! :)
Pretty wild, I watched the live feed from NASA and saw the reactions along the way, I literally looked up knowing there was this human made machine burning through the Mars atmosphere and heard when the parachute deployed and then when it landed- right then.. here I am in NYC and way out there right at that second the Phoenix landed.. I loved it. I love when technology is good and connects us to these amazing things. Can't wait to see the pix.

One day this is going to be so old fashioned seeming. One day there will probably be a settlement on Mars and way way in the future a real home planet. For the moment I feel happy to have witnessed this step, this lander to me seems like a curious child with her shovel getting ready to dig and find out all kinds of things. They just said it's really the first step forward now, far in the future the Phoenix will be hanging in a Martian Air and Space museum and people will point and say, that was it the Phoenix! The one that made the biggest move forward. Landing with thrusters means heavier machinery can begin to land.. bigger and bigger things, one day a ship with people won't be science fiction .. hope we take care of both of our worlds. Earth and Mars.

Check in to to NASA's Live feed for all the updates!!!
Last Update, The PIX ARE IN!!! NASA is showing them and log on to your fave news source they will probably be showing them soon too. :) *Signing Off!*

Sunny Smile Sunday.. look how strong i am...see??

hey mom!! look how strong i am...see??
Originally uploaded by jmtimages.
Aww yes you look so strong! And what a pretty smile :)
Hope everybody is having a wonderful day!

What Makes the Rainbow Haired Children Frown?

Villager photos by Nick Brooks
Read of their sadness here..

What makes the rainbow haired children frown?
Take down the toy tower..

I am actually surprised I feel this way. Years ago when the mural garden was destroyed for condos I and several other local girls looked like this bunch on the street, we even prompted a cop to apologize to us for something he couldn't stop (altho some of us were actually crying, not umm "pouting" :) ). I like quirky artistic things that add to the quirky artistic character of the EV but was never much of a fan of this tower. I hated seeing the toys strung up especially one really valuable one he could have had on ebay to help the garden raise money (I pointed it out once a long time ago but no one ever removed it, too high up I 'spose) and over time it just deteriorated in the open rain and snow. I see calling it a toy tower makes it sound cute, and to some it was, it's been there forever really, but all I liked about it were the kitties who would play in it. The rotting toys on it weren't spooky in a good way to me just sad. I hope they use the space for something great, how about install a greenhouse for a wonderful Corpse Flower!.. but yeah might be the huge minority here, the rainbow children would not agree but I am not unhappy to see it go. (Thanks Rick!)


More pix of it here on Flickr..

Fri.. Sat..? Pickles and Dee Dee

Pickles and Dee Dee little doppelgangers
Originally uploaded by Miss Sockmonkey.
Is it Fakey Friday or Spooky Saturday? LOL Friday just slipped away in a dream for me, now it's still Fakey Friday somewhere.. But here in NYC it's now Saturday and is it fakey or spooky? Pickles and Dee Dee are ever so Cutey no matter what. Click the pic and check out their whole picture set the Pickles and Dee Dee show :)
Have a wonderful day!

Somewhat in Reality

Thumper Thursday.. robo bunny

robo bunny.JPG
Originally uploaded by Mental_floss.
Well there you have it.. knits are an equal opportunity fashion statement! :)
"I bet I'll win the 'Nerdiest Pet Owner' title with this one. I hate to think what a person would have to do to top it. This is my robot bunny, Ngaio--and if owning a robot bunny isn't nerdy enough, I even knit her little hoodie sweater myself.

- Keri"

The Blade Runner Defense

Rick sent this to me (Thanks!).. They got me, seriously cannot begin to say how much I love the film Blade Runner. A perfect home for me could be the JF Sebastian home in it's dusty gothic glory and toys and talking robots. Everywhere I have lived in NYC I have been able to see the Empire State Building and the way it sometimes sits in the eerie lit clouds at night.. love it so much.

Empire State Bld - New York, USA
Originally uploaded by miguel valle de figueiredo.

This man's Blade Runner Defense (which I thought for a sec would be about the sprinter..)

of his massive ads really does tweak it in your brain this plan of his is probably going to work. I will love a divey bar or small hole in the wall restaurant because it reminds me of something out of Blade Runner. NYC is filled with moments like this I am always having a Blade Runner (or Brazil for that matter) flashback. I love it.. yikes, the adman is getting me.. would be cute to see some big WWF Panda and Polar Bear faces roll through there though...


Right before she takes the pill...or is it the smile after?

The real life thing made art by the above..
Read all about it Here

Woodstock Farm Animal Rescue

Jenny Brown, who runs a sanctuary for farm animals in Woodstock, N.Y., with Albie, who is believed to have fled a Brooklyn slaughterhouse. She has arranged for him to receive an artificial leg. Joyce Dopkeen/The New York Times

Yes Virginia there are still wonderful people in the world :)
A Rescued Goat Gets a Chance for a Normal Life

By FERNANDA SANTOS
WOODSTOCK, N.Y. — They are both amputees: She lost part of her right leg to bone cancer at the age of 10, and he lost part of his left leg four months ago because of an injury he most likely suffered at a Brooklyn slaughterhouse.

Her name is Jenny Brown, and she is a 36-year-old television producer turned animal rights advocate. His name is Albie, and he is a goat of unknown age and breed.

They met last August, after Albie was plucked from Prospect Park and taken to the animal sanctuary Ms. Brown has owned here since 2004. Albie was malnourished and sickly at the time, his mouth covered in sores, his leg and hoof badly infected, Ms. Brown recalled. His injuries seemed to indicate that he had been hogtied before he broke free and made his way to the park.

Ms. Brown said that she tried to save Albie’s leg, treating it with ointments and homeopathic remedies, but that the wound would not heal. In December, Albie’s leg was amputated just above the knee.

He is now awaiting a prosthesis, a very rare indulgence for a farm animal. And the same technician who fitted Ms. Brown with a new artificial leg is also designing Albie’s.

“I’ve been an amputee for most of my life, but I can run a farm, I can wrestle animals, I can carry bales of hay, thanks to modern prosthetics,” Ms. Brown said. “I thought it would be only fair to give Albie the same chance to live a normal life.”

Ms. Brown was born and raised in Kentucky, the only child of a single mother who worked the night shift as a nurse. She said she always loved animals, but was allowed to have a pet only after she was told she had cancer. She adopted a kitten and named it Boogie. The kitten kept her company when chemotherapy left her too weak to go to school.

Ms. Brown stopped eating meat at 18 and dairy products about six years ago, after she did some video for an animal rights organization at stockyards in Texas. She has done work for ABC, PBS and the Discovery Channel, but now devotes herself to the refuge, the Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary. It subsists on donations and is home to Albie and dozens of other abused animals, including bulls, turkeys and ducks.

Albie’s life story is less clear. He has white fur, yellow eyes, floppy ears and horns that rise from his forehead in opposite directions, like a curved V. Ms. Brown says he seems young in terms of weight, but is probably close to full size and is likely a cross between an Anglo-Nubian and some other goat breed. She named him after Albert Schweitzer, the medical missionary in Africa who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1953.

Officers of Brooklyn Animal Care and Control caught Albie near the southeast corner of Prospect Park last summer. He had gashes above his hooves, an indication that his legs had been bound, which Ms. Brown said is how animals are often transported to the slaughterhouse, of which there are more than 100 around New York City.

The binding must have been so tight that it cut the blood flow to Albie’s left leg, Ms. Brown said.

Erik J. Tompkins, the certified prosthetist who designed Ms. Brown’s leg and is designing Albie’s, said that he had fitted an animal with a fake limb only once, six years ago, and that was a horse with a front leg shorter than the other three.

“I’m not an expert on fitting animals, but I’ve fitted some complicated humans, so I thought it wouldn’t be much more difficult to fit Albie,” said Mr. Tompkins, who has been in the business for 16 years.

Dr. N. Kent Ames, a professor at the College of Veterinary Medicine at Michigan State University, said that using prosthetics on farm animals was “very rare,” in large part because it did not make economic sense.

“Most farm animals are commodities, and the value of the animal is usually lower than the cost of the prosthesis,” Dr. Ames said in a telephone interview. He added that in more than 30 years in veterinary medicine, “I’ve amputated more than a few limbs on farm animals, but I’ve never put a prosthetic device on any of them.”

Ms. Brown said that Albie’s amputation surgeries cost about $5,000, and that she did not yet know the price of the prosthesis (hers was about $20,000). Albie does not have health insurance, but among his benefactors are Martin Rowe, a book publisher who lives in Carroll Gardens and ran the New York Marathon last fall on Albie’s behalf.

The goat, who now must do an awkward sort of hop from hind legs to front leg to propel himself forward, tried his new leg for the first time last week. Ms. Brown said he seemed to walk with ease, but Mr. Tompkins thought the prosthesis needed some tweaking to make sure it remained in place as Albie strolled and skipped around the fields.

“This is about giving one of our animals a better quality of life, just like you would do for a house pet or a kid,” Ms. Brown said. “And what we’re hoping here is that Albie will walk again on four legs.”


Able to walk thanks to a prosthesis, Jenny Brown thought Albie should have one, too.
You can read the NY Times feature here :)
Visit the Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary online here :)

Wee Wednesday, Sleeping Baby Squirrel

Sleeping Baby Squirrel
Originally uploaded by Darrin Weathersby.
Aww handful of precious poppet! Hope you have a cozy cuddly Wee Wednesday!
Worky type/new biz and other stuff gets so crazy I just want to curl up too and have nice dreams :) Have a great day!

Hanging Out

Coming to Life 60

More Coming To Life

Born to Run

Movement is Art

Movement is Power

Movement is Freedom

There is a lot wrong in this world but when there is something right it gives hope. These Cheetah prosthetics, amaze me... the debate over this young African sprinter, Oscar Pistorius, is whether or not he should be allowed to RUN in the Olympics. He not only runs but runs like the wind. All issues of the sport aside, I just love that a person who would in other times and places be confined to a chair or crutches or not be able to get around at all can have the hope to not only walk but to take off and run. Man and science can be beautiful.