Chickens breaking up a bunny fight.
Rhoda as Tallulah? Awesome.
I’m just ecstatic hearing that Valerie Harper (yeah, Mary’s Rhoda) is playing Tallulah Bankhead in a new play entitled Looped. Apparently, the title comes from the idea that the whole play takes place during an ADR session for Tallu’s classing Hammer horror film, Die! Die! My Darling!
I lost some respect for Valerie after she walked off the set of a show named after her. Jeesh, during the first season, even. Pretty freaking sad if you can replace her with Sandy Duncan and still manage to keep the series running for five more seasons. And that union president race against Laura Ingalls got pretty nasty. But this just may make up for all of that.
What? You haven’t seen Die! Die! My Darling!? Holy frijoles, get over here quick. I’m itching to watch it again, especially since Tallu plays a bible-thumping vegetarian who — once upon a time — was a … well, a loose, jazz-loving woman. Okay, she was a whore. And Stephanie Powers plays the mod girl Tallu kidnaps. And a very young Donald Sutherland plays the retarded groundskeeper. What’s not to love?!
Coolest Library?
I meant to post this a couple of weeks ago and never got around to it. The Boston Public Library, where we work, has been voted one of MSN City Guides’ Top 10 Coolest Public Libraries. Of course, they’re really only talking about the McKim Building, which faces Copley Square and is pretty amazing from an art and architecture point-of-view. What I’ll really be jazzed about is the day the BPL is chosen for the top 10 coolest public libraries because of the services it provides. Still, the very fact that there is a Top 10 Coolest Public Libraries list is pretty cool.
Pups Who Love Too Much
Quite by accident, I found myself watching a Canadian, computer-generated children’s cartoon called Turbo Dogs this afternoon. I’m a little concerned about the behavior of these professional race car-driving pooches.
In the segment I watched, one pup, appropriately named Stinkbert, is disturbed to realize that he may have put the damper on a fellow cur’s birthday celebration because of his foul smell. See, Stinkbert’s got a rather significant problem, not only with hygeine, but with behavior. His offensive odor is not caused by, you know, anything internal, but rather because of his compulsive need to roll in refuse. Yes. Stinkbert is a garbage addict.
Once he realizes the apparent effect his problem has on his dear friends, Stinbert — to his credit — decides to get clean. Literally. He learns to bathe, disinfect his home, and with much difficulty, even withstand violent compulsive urges to roll around in the trash. However, since no one helps him with behavior modification, he’s left with nothing to do but sit bored, contemplating the satisfaction he’s denying himself every second.
Eventually, Stinkbert overhears his friends’ plans to meet at the municipal dump. Unable to restrain himself any longer, he speeds off in his convertible, intent on a full hedonistic waste binge. Though one canine races alongside him pleading with him to come to his senses and reconsider, he blasts off in a dangerous burst of speed and reaches the junk pile where his remaining friends are urging him not to enter.
Obviously distraught by his conflicting desires, he implores them to stand aside, claiming “I am sorry. I tried to get clean for you, but I’ve just gotta be me!” His comrades eventually relent because they say that they never wanted him to change. In fact, they have been at the dump setting up a “stink party” for Stinkbert to celebrate his valiant attempts to get clean. Stinkbert immediately commences rolling in discarded fish parts vowing to get clean once again, but not for his or his friends’ well being. Rather, he wants to repeat the torturous exercise again because it makes the high of getting smelly all the more potent.
The vignette ends with the enabling pooches placing clothespins on their snouts so they may continue to ignore their loved one’s serious problem.
Sad. That’s all I can say. I wish Stinkbert well and hope that some day he finds within himself the courage and strength to overcome his addiction. Denial ain’t just a river in Egypt.
Presenting Parker, the Monocular Cat
Ta-daaaaaaaaaaa.
We have a new addition to our household! It’s been over a year since we lost Kitty and in that time, Gertrudis has managed to lick all the fur off her lower abdomen. She’s also gotten extremely loving, which is just weird for her. I’ve been trying to convince Michael that she’s lonely now and it’s only recently that he’s come to agree with me. On reading this content, it will be easy to figure out the perfect shelter for your pet.
So my co-worker Chrissy walks into my office last week and says, “Does anyone want a one-eyed cat?” Who can resist such an offer, especially after seeing the adorable picture (see left) she forwarded me?! He was the pet of her boyfriend’s friend Matt and sadly, he had to give him up when he moved in with roommates with two dogs. He did find a temporary home for him, but sadly, that wasn’t even going well because of an allergy situation. Poor buddy! He’s really loving and everyone wants him but no one could take him!
He was born in Baltimore about 4 1/2 years ago and the story is that he and his litter were in a fire. He’s the only one to survive, poor thing, and apparently an infection meant the vet had to take his eye. At least it happened when he was young. He did have a thread-eating incident last year and had to have surgery, but other than that, he seems to be in perfect health.
We were only going to meet him last night and take him home on Wednesday because Michael left for San Francisco today. But before we even got to his house, Michael had already made up his mind that we needed to take him right away!
He’s a timid little chubbus, but boy can he love. Even strangers get the full rubdown when he meets them, so if Gertrudis was lonely, she won’t be now. He’s in a “safe room” for a couple weeks so we can introduce them very, very gradually. Gertrudis didn’t even realize he was in there for a couple hours, but boy — when she did figure it out, she made sure to keep watch on that door. We think she spent the whole night outside his room growling at a steady, low volume. She’s better today now that I cleaned his litter box thoroughly. Man, his pee stinks to high heaven and we’re hoping it’s just cause he’s nervous. I’m not too worried. Putting his litter box through the dishwasher and giving him fresh “crystals blend” seem to have done the trick.
You’ll be hearing more about him soon, I’m sure. And I’ll even try to get some pics of him in his new digs if he’ll come out from behind the sofa long enough.