9.28.2008

Yawwwn


Yawwwn
Originally uploaded by Tanya M..

Hope your weekend is going well! Maybe you nap or run errands or whatever it is you do, have a nice time :)

9.27.2008

Manufactured By Jewish Mothers, Inc.


Manufactured By Jewish Mothers, Inc.
Originally uploaded by drp.

:) Hope you are having a safe and happy weekend.

Where am i?


Can you see me?
Originally uploaded by pompey shoes.

Almost done.. I have been getting ready for a big convention, scroll down and you'll know which one :) I am selling my incense there and I hand make everything- EVERYthing LOL. It's worth it, it's a challenge too, I need to see what I can accomplish, how much, what it takes. It's my first thing like this so its also an adventure. What I told Rick I was telling myself is, when I wonder how this will go I think of this.. if Dorothy Parker can in the late 1920's move an entire family's luggage and pets (two in heat) via trains and a funicular from the south of France to Switzerland alone.. then this is nothing :)

Paul Newman, rest in peace


He was what a "star" should be. Looking at what some actors become it is sad. Here was a man overflowing with talent and beauty and he in turn filled the world with hope and beauty with his money, heart, passion fueling so many wonderful things. He has an equally talented wife who he stayed with- not going that embarrassing route some men go making fools of themselves in mid-life crisis with underage girls. He didn't squander his gifts and hard work stumbling drunk and drugged in and out of rehabs. I see men and women now who have talent and fame and they throw it away.

Paul Newman was truly a great man, he was what so many equally gifted men and women should be. Thank you for an example Paul, proof of what could be when someone has beauty and fame and money and how it can be used to make the world a better place, not just feed the tabloids with garbage. I am sad to see you go onward to whatever the afterlife is but you have an amazing legacy that proves fame and fortune do not have to be a curse but a blessing.


Why Paul Newman fascinated us decade after decade
By SCOTT EYMAN
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Saturday, September 27, 2008

Most actors leave behind little more than the sum of the parts they've played. Paul Newman spent 83 years proving that an actor can be a thinking organism whose importance can transcend even his greatest performances.

Decades from now, Newman may be as highly regarded for his role in establishing camps for terminally ill children, and for donating $175 million in profits - and counting - from his Newman's Own food products to charity, as for all but the very finest of his movies.

Newman's death Friday from cancer will doubtless provoke many written and televised valedictories, because he was a star in the grand American tradition: extremely handsome, but somehow uncomfortable with his handsomeness, which he attempted to subvert by playing a succession of engaging opportunists.

Whether it was his signature performance as Fast Eddie Felson in Robert Rossen's The Hustler - one of the truly great post-war American movies - the utterly heartless title character in Hud, the main chance artist of Sweet Bird of Youth, the self-destructively rebellious Cool Hand Luke, or a gradually overmatched, more or less incompetent outlaw in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Newman spent his prime starring years exposing the dark heart of narcissism in portrayals of relentless losers.

Despite the flawed characters he delighted in playing, there was something wary and cynical about his persona; Newman was always alert for a con, even if it was a con he was running, as in the immensely popular The Sting.

The odd thing was that even though Newman was fairly merciless in his choices, the public knew better; they treated him with the affection accorded the great movie stars of earlier eras because, even if Newman had the soul of a character actor, he had the looks of a classic leading man, and the attitude of an unpretentious guy next door.

He was born in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1925. There was a successful family business just waiting for him - Newman-Stern Sporting Goods - but he didn't want to sell baseball gloves and went to the liberal arts haven of Kenyon College. From there it was the Yale School of Drama and the Actor's Studio in New York. He made a splash on Broadway in William Inge's Picnic and in The Desperate Hours, and went to Hollywood to star in what he always insisted was the worst movie ever made: The Silver Chalice. (It's terrible, but not that terrible.)

Initially, Newman was one of the hord of method actors who followed in the wake of Marlon Brando, to whom Newman had a physical resemblance. He tested for the part of James Dean's brother in East of Eden and lost out to the forgotten Richard Davalos. But when Dean was killed in a car crash in September 1955, Newman landed the part that Dean was to play next: the boxer Rocky Graziano in Somebody Up There Likes Me.

After that he was off to the races, and even if he was an outrageously mannered Billy the Kid in The Left-handed Gun - a project that was also on Dean's dance card - the audience willingly followed him from film to film, from decade to decade.

Later in his career, as he moved into character roles, he found more signature parts: an alcoholic lawyer in The Verdict, and, in one of his most fascinating performances, a hopelessly repressed Kansas lawyer in Mr. and Mrs. Bridge, which proved yet again that only an interesting man should play an uninteresting man.

Any one of these performances could have won him his ridiculously delayed Academy Award for Best Actor, but he got it for encoring Eddie Felson in The Color of Money, a picture that wasn't close to being good enough to exist beside the original. His last great performance was as Sully in Robert Benton's Nobody's Fool, where he played an utterly unambitious but sharp-witted layabout of great charm and still simmering sexiness.

No estimate of Newman should overlook his film directing career, which was not extensive but was distinguished. Special attention should be paid to Rachel, Rachel, a 1968 vehicle for his wife of 50 years, Joanne Woodward, and a very good version of Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie, again starring Miss Woodward.

Newman was not a faultless artist. He was oddly awkward at comedy, and helpless if asked to inhabit an essentially unwritten part. Roles calling for little more than glamour and charisma, such as Hitchcock's Torn Curtain, left him visibly irritated and at sea. And he had terrible dry periods: in the mid-70s alone, he made The Mackintosh Man, The Towering Inferno, Buffalo Bill and the Indians and Quintet.

But no string of losers could dampen the affection audiences had for him, or diminish his casual power as an actor and a personality.

Despite what he played, Paul Newman was never a loser. source

9.24.2008

Not Exactly the Horse Whisperer


Not Exactly the Horse Whisperer
Originally uploaded by Pixel Packing Mama.

"Mamma is it Two-fur Tuesday or Wee Wednesday?"
"Well Sandy, it's both for a little bit if you think of the whole globe turning.."
"What's a globe?"

Yes I am in the home stretch here and had to pause for a moment to think what day IS it anyway ;) Hey hard work is worth it when it is all coming out the way you wanted. I'll be back soon when I can do two things at once, this stuff I am doing now you can't unless you want to get very messy!

Have a great day!!

9.22.2008

Monkey Monday, Baby!


Baby!
Originally uploaded by boocaw.

Such a sweet lil' face!
Hope everybody had a great weekend and will have a wonderful Monkey Monday!
Yes I am still hard at work, hand making many things, I am my own little factory so you'll have to forgive me or being "away" for a few days. My cats can't use a paint brush or scissors properly or else this would go much quicker! :)

9.19.2008

Fakey Friday, Dutch bub


Dutch bub with furry twin
Originally uploaded by bivoir.

Oh boy today was just as crazy as yesterday.. I have a few more things to make sooo will be back!
Hope you had a great Fakey Friday!

9.18.2008

Thumper Thursday, Baby bun 10 days old


baby bun #3 10 days old 8-28-2008 11-03-12 AM
Originally uploaded by dora_marie.

Awww sleepy baby. TT is almost over, I had a crazy/busy day so sorry for not stopping in today until now but sometimes y'kno it just happens! :)
Hope everybody had a wonderful day!

9.17.2008

Upside Down Frown







The Art of Mathematics


Click the photo to check out a wonderful slide presentation by the BBC.
"To the untrained eye, these vivid images might appear to be random sets of colourful swirls and circles. But they are in fact precise visual representations of mathematical theory known as dynamical systems. Some of the images - created by mathematicians from across the world - have gone on display at the University of Liverpool. Mathematician Lasse Rempe explains how they are made - and considers their artistic merits.

Great Back to School Book, The Two Bobbies



After seeing the hurricanes Gustav and Ike on the news recently kids might need to be reminded that good can come from the bad. Back in Katrina's devastation a small adventure unfolded and now it is a story of friendship you will never forget. It gives you hope and hopefully a better understanding and kindness toward animals and the nature of love and how it can be found anywhere through anything. Watch the trailer below and click the picture for the website.




A great interview, a surprise for you too if you wonder why these two creature's friendship was even more remarkable than just surviving Katrina's aftermath.

Name the Baby Hippo! :)


Cast your vote for the new baby hippo's name! This big wee girl will appreciate your help :)

Join the Zoo in naming cute new Pygmy Hippo via Web!
By Janel Heflin, Special to The News
TAMPA -- A rare baby Pygmy Hippopotamus born at Tampa’s Lowry Park Zoo on Aug. 26 needs a name, and zoo leaders are asking for help from zoo fans and the public. An online contest that began on Sept. 8, and runs through Oct. 3 will name the first ever, captive born Pygmy Hippo in the zoo’s history. The newborn calf will be officially named on World Animal Day at the zoo Oct. 4.

On Tuesday, Aug. 26, Zsa Zsa, a full-grown female Pygmy Hippo, gave birth to a calf, the first ever, captive born Pygmy Hippo in the history of Tampa’s Lowry Park Zoo, and one of only three births in North America in the last two years.

There are five names to choose from.
As Pygmy Hippos are native to the forests and swamps of western Africa, the five names chosen for the voting process reflect their native land.
  • Annakiya, a Nigerian name meaning sweet face,
  • Cece, a beach in Liberia, a native region for the endangered hippos,
  • Nini, a west African name meaning strong as stone,
  • Tifi, which means daughter,
  • and Zaji, meaning girl.

    Only 35 are reported to reside in Association of Zoos and Aquariums accredited institutions in North America, according to Rachel Nelson, Director of Public Relations for Tampa’s Lowry Park Zoo.
    With so few in existence, the birth of the baby Pygmy Hippo is not merely a celebration of new life, it is a celebration of the continuing existence of a creature that may, one day, only be seen in captivity as loss of habitat quickly causes the demise of those in the wild.

    Read the whole article here To cast your vote log onto http://www.LowryParkZoo.com

    Why hello there little Annakiya, Cece, Nini, Tifi, or Zaji! :)

  • Treacle's Wild Ride


    It was as if they couldn't decide what to laugh at first, the slow state of traffic that even a wee hamster was moving faster than they were, or that there was a hamster in traffic! Luckily Treacle's journey has a happy ending!


    ASTONISHED drivers crawling through rush-hour traffic watched themselves being overtaken ... by a hamster in its playball.

    Treacle’s tiny legs were a blur as her plastic globe travelled faster and faster.
    Afraid that the little rodent would run herself to death, Nick Smith leapt from his car and snatched her from the gutter.

    Now Treacle is set to be reunited with her worried owner after news of her adventure spread around Carlisle. Electrical engineer Nick, 50, from nearby Wreay, said: “I couldn’t believe what I was seeing – a hamster overtaking us in its plastic ball.

    “It was quite happily trundling along but getting near to the verge and I thought it might roll out into the traffic.”

    Several days later Nick was contacted by a family whose daughter had put the hamster into the exercise ball while she cleaned out its cage.
    Treacle had somehow been able to escape through the front door and into the road.
    Read all about her here and here

    Riding Out Hurricane Ike in a Church, with a Lion



    Taking shelter in a Church.. shared with a Lion- and they have the photos to prove it! Read the whole article here for other amazing stories of survival during Hurricane Ike.

    BOLIVAR PENINSULA, Texas — Many years from now, a small group of Hurricane Ike survivors will probably still be telling the story of how, on the night the storm flattened their island, they took sanctuary in a church - with a lion.

    The full-grown lion was from a local zoo, and the owner was trying to drive to safety with the animal when he saw cars and trucks stranded in the rising floodwaters. He knew he and the lion were in trouble.

    He headed for the church and was met by a group of residents who helped the lion wade inside, where they locked it in a sanctuary as the storm raged. The water crept up to their waists, and two-by-fours came floating through broken windows. But the lion was as calm as a kitten.
    When daylight came, everyone was still alive.

    "They worked pretty well together, actually," said the lion's owner, Michael Ray Kujawa. "When you have to swim, the lion doesn't care about eating nobody."

    Shackle, an 11-year-old lion, relaxes at First Baptist Church in Crystal Beach, Texas, on Tuesday. (Tony Gutierrez/The Associated Press)

    Dog Dials 911, Saves Man's Life!


    Dogs really are wonderful, Buddy is truly this man's best friend!

    “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 to 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. Read the article here

    Watch this video about Buddy and click the website here for more info on Paws with a Cause!

    Two Day Old bit o' Pup



    Originally uploaded by .Don't.Forget.To.Breathe..

    Kisses on tiny pink feets and smoothhead airport head! (Anyone besides me know that cute cartoon?)

    Pile of puppies


    Pile of puppies
    Originally uploaded by silbergeistweis.

    Well Two-fur Tuesday just flew by in a flurry of bizyness, hope you had a great day! It's Wee Wednesday already! :)

    9.16.2008

    Watch

    this.. click here

    A Helping Tusk


    Baby Elephant Tucker (2nd from left) got to help with clean-up at his Houston Zoo home- click here to see him at work being a big helping boy!

    In the aftermath of Hurricane Ike, everyone is pitching in to help clean up. At the Houston Zoo, even a baby elephant got in the act.
    Tucker the elephant is three years old and has been at the Houston Zoo for about a month with this mother, Tess. Sunday, when it was clear the storm threat had passed and employees were removing tree debris from zoo grounds, the elephant keepers invited Tucker to help.

    The young elephant readily accepted and accompanied his keepers to two spots in the zoo not far from the McNair Asian Elephant habitat. He picked up some tree debris, helped with some sweeping up and then went back to the barn to share his experience with his mother and the rest of the herd.

    Two-fur Tuesday, kitty bukkit


    kitty 39
    Originally uploaded by Rock story.

    "Is it two-foo toozday yet?"
    Why yes it is, you can come out now :)
    Have a great Two-fur Tuesday!

    Little Monkeys


    Little Monkeys
    Originally uploaded by mrjoro.

    Hope you had a great Monkey Monday! :)

    9.15.2008

    Monkey


    Monkey
    Originally uploaded by Asquared185.

    Feeties up, chilly monkey snackin, watching those crazy human critters wander by, it's a good day!

    Chicken chicken (wild laughter)

    Endless conference getting you down? You will laugh, with or at the great laughter going on here, you can sense the endless presentations getting a bit straining and then this is unleashed at just the right moment..

    Chicken chicken, chicken chicken... chicken!

    Snowy the Cat Adopts a Chicken!

    Good boy Snowy, he comforts another creature in need of some love :)

    A farmhouse cat has adopted a chicken after she became the only survivor of a fox attack.

    Tiny chick Gladys was rescued by its owners and brought into the house two and a half months ago. Snowy the cat took over the job of looking after the traumatised chicken and now the pair are inseparable.

    Mrs Etheridge, 69, a pony breeder who is married to Albert, 70, said: "Snowy cleaned her and washed her. Gladys is now about two-and-a-half months old and is our pet. She still comes into the house to play.

    "She comes in and bounces up and down in front of Snowy and he just stands there and takes it and puts his arm around her.
    "They are the best of friends, very much so, and when she first started going out she would not go unless they went together. They are a strange couple but we love them both very much." via


    Snuggles: Snowy leans in for a cuddle

    Happy family: Owner Jane Etheridge with Gladys and Snowy

    Lexi the Great is a True Hero


    A dog's hearing is amazing but truly wonderful that little Lexi the Great knew when a human was in trouble and knew to get him help! :)

    "Lexi The Great may not wear a cape and tights, but to the folks around her Brooklyn home she's a real hero. The 5-year-old pooch, a Bichon Frise, lived up to her name on Wednesday after she helped rescue an 85-year-old neighbor who collapsed in his Bay Ridge apartment and lay on the floor for hours."


    Linda Deutsch, 45, was taking her perky, white pet out for a walk about 8 a.m. when Lexi refused to get on the elevator.
    Thinking Lexi was just being ornery, Deutsch pulled on her leash, but to no avail. Lexi just kept pulling away from her and toward Apartment 4-L.

    Deutsch finally let her dog lead her there and that's when she heard Charles Postler, a deacon at nearby St. Patrick's Church, calling for help.

    "She kept pulling away," Deutsch recalled. "I didn't hear anything at first, but then I heard the cry for help."
    Deutsch called the building super, Ilija Kerculj, 54, who opened Postler's door. Inside, they found Postler on the floor, incoherent and clearly in trouble.
    Postler usually carries an emergency alarm seniors can use to call for help, but the chain on the device had broken and he wasn't wearing it when he fell, his son said.

    Postler remained hospitalized overnight and will likely be sent home today.
    "People say that dogs are man's best friend and this proves it all over again," the son said.

    Deutsch is equally proud of her hero pet.
    "I was mad at her the day before because I caught her drinking my coffee I left by the sofa," she said. "Today she makes me so proud. She is a hero."
    Read the whole article here

    Baby Dayo


    2008-09-14-15h59m57.IMG_6643l
    Originally uploaded by A.J. Haverkamp.

    Aww looks like you even combed your hair! Such a sweetie face :)

    Tasty finger lemur


    tasty finger lemur
    Originally uploaded by cb1979.

    mmm delish lil' fingertips :)

    Monkey Monday, Baby monkey


    Fragile Baby monkey
    Originally uploaded by Ari V.

    What are you thinking little baby?
    Have a great day everybody :)

    9.14.2008

    Texas sanctuary is a happy home for wolves


    Awww look at the Big Bad Wolf.. tummy scratch time! :)
    If you want to visit this amazing wolf sanctuary read on:

    MONTGOMERY, Texas – Wolves are extinct in Texas, but in one area of the Lone Star State, it isn't unusual to hear the chilling chorus of their howls echoing across rolling hills and filtering through towering pines as residents of Saint Francis Wolf Sanctuary communicate with one another.

    Wolves are elusive in the wild, and the opportunity to watch and even pet one draws people from near and far.

    People interested in judging for themselves can go to the sanctuary's annual open house, Oct. 4 this year. Doors to the nonprofit, federally licensed refuge will be open from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Among scheduled activities are human-wolf interaction and therapy demonstrations, educational sessions, face painting, a silent auction and a raffle.

    Currently, seven pens house 11 canine residents. Sanctuary founder Dr. Jean LeFevre says more pens are needed. Dr. LeFevre, who has a doctorate in pastoral counseling, has trained some wolves to work as therapy animals, offering an emotional boost to disfigured children, adults in wheelchairs, abused women and traumatized war veterans.
    "A quadriplegic woman had tears in her eyes while petting one of our wolves, saying she never thought she'd ever see a wolf, much less get to touch one," Dr. LeFevre says.

    The animals also have been instrumental in the recovery of some addicts.
    "Everyone had given up, written me off," says Jason Bilski, 27. "Then I came out here. Being out here is very therapeutic. ... People think we take care of them, but really they take care of us."
    Patti Pfeiffer is a freelance writer in Flower Mound. Read the whole article here Visit the Sanctuary website here

    Click the sleepy wolf pup below for even more beautiful wolf photos from another wonderful sanctuary :)

    Frost
    Originally uploaded by Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary Wolves.

    Baby Quail


    baby quail
    Originally uploaded by haley luna.

    "Got bird.. in pocket!"
    Sleepy baby Quail :)

    Squirrel


    Squirrel
    Originally uploaded by OL Pete.

    Squirrelaxin' on and at lunch.. :)

    Sunny Smile Sunday, Baby Goat


    Baby-Goat im Jülicher Brückenkopfpark
    Originally uploaded by Hobby-Photograph.

    Not only smiling but rockin' that full on supermodel pose! :)
    Have a great stylin' Sunday!