Funny Web Page

http://www.attackchi.org.au/kits.htm

This had me laughing out loud sporadically for the past few days. The idea is absurd, but the message is true.

Dog-mania Continues

I had the best lunch break today. I visited the animal shelter down the street to donate a year's worth of shredded bills and credit card offers (they use this for kitten litters) and brought over some dog food also. This shelter is a humane society, and is much less depressing than the one we visited in the East Bay last weekend. The environment is busy and friendly, and the dogs are given much larger kennels, with both inside and "backyard" areas. As expected, there were a bunch of depressed-looking pit bulls and a few barkers and jumpers who didn't know how to be on their best behavior for a guest and potential owner (I can't own a dog right now, but they don't know that!).

The ones that liked me the most were Flash, an apricot chow chow mix (when my sister went to this shelter, she said Flash didn't want to meet her. and his web profile describes him as a "wallflower"); Milo, a smaller, younger chow chow and retriever mix; and Chloe, a gentle and friendly brown and white pit bull mix. Milo and Chloe were neighbors, and both greeted me on the inside and backyards, really wanted to be petted thru the fence and offer me their paws thru the tiny side openings.

Nik is a step closer to getting approved for Dano's adoption. I'm keeping my fingers crossed, but again, if something falls through, there are a ton of other great ones to rescue.

I've been reading a lot about the threat of BSL (breed-specific legislature), particularly with respect to all the pit bull media attention. I believe it's incredibly wrong to punish an entire breed for the wrong doings of the OWNERS of a statistical few. I'm not an animal rights nazi (I love meat!), but this is so reactive, unfair and unproductive (genocidal). They passed a pit bull ban in Denver, and the poor Responsible pit bull owners are freaking out. Learn more about BSL here:

http://www.sfspca.org/WhereWeStand/index.shtml

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050721/ap_on_re_us/denver_dog_ban_11

More Dog Obsession

What Common Breed of Dog Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

I guess boxers are cool, but aren't the most attractive bunch (does anyone else think they kind of look like oversized pugs with Down syndrome?). There was one funny question about my biggest fantasy, and it was a toss-up beetween my own very huge amusement park with no fees and no lines and an endless supply of Pizza Hut along with a house made out of pillows.

We looked at a few dogs over the weekend and I must say that these pet events are overrated. You see tons of urgent stories and pics online, and go to the event to see 3-4 dogs, and not the ones you wanted at that. I guess for now, my sis will submit an adoption app or two and work on getting the house dog-friendly.

BG the Rescue Rottie

I've been living vicariously through my sister, who is looking to adopt a dog. From a gazillion website photos of "please give me a home" dogs, I've particularly been engrossed in one story about BG, an abandoned Rottweiler in Oakland and a kind man who saw something special in this Rottie. He visited her in the shelter and paid for her spaying out of his own pocket, and when her time was up at the shelter, he took her in until he could find someone who could give her a permanent home. He bathed and fed her and helped her develop social skills around other dogs. Every day or two for a month and a half, he posted photos and short updates. Finally, yesterday was the final update. BG had found a home with a permanent family.

The man who cared for BG is truly an inspiration, and following their story gave a feeling of relief, in comparison to all the other terrible crap we hear about in the news every day.

On kind of another note, I decided that this is the type of dog I want one day...when I get a place big enough for me to adopt a dog (and if my place is big enough, more than one dog!). Rotties are beautiful, smart, and tough. I'm going to go look at shelter dogs with my sister tomorrow. I'm probably going to gush at seeing cute animals, but also feel really helpless that I cannot take one home with me anytime soon. Wish us luck!

Oh yeah, and I'm not sure who actually reads my Blog, but I'm sure you're an online shopper. If you do your shopping though iGive at this link, a percentage of the proceeds go to Home at Last Rescue, an organization in Berkeley that rescues and cares for dogs and cats (who would otherwise face euthanization) from East Bay Area animal shelters.

Dog Naming 101

My younger sister has been looking for a dog to adopt and for the last few weeks has been sending me links to listings on various animal shelter websites. There are so many cool-looking dogs, and I wish they could all get good homes.

Unfortunately, many cool dogs don't come with the luxury of a cool name. Here are some dog-naming misdemeanors:

1. Naming your dog after one of the seven dwarfs (Happy, Sleepy, Bashful)

2. Naming your dog after desserts (Cheesecake, Muffin, Brownie)

3. Naming your dog after a color or a description of that color, particularly if it is the color of that dog (Snowy, Brownie, Blondie, Cocoa). Exception - Pepper and Shadow work for black dogs.

4. Naming your dog after a Different animal (Piggy, Lion, Possum)

5. Naming your dog after a wack famous human (George Bush, Rodman, Kobe)

6. Naming your dog an adjective, based on an obvious physical attribute (Spotty, Tiny)

7. Naming your dog intoxicatingly cutesy words of affection (Cutie, Honey, Baby, Precious)

8. Naming your dog a human name that doesn't even sound good on humans (Hilda, Leroy)

9. Naming your dog after the cartoon character it obviously resembles (Snoopy, Scooby, Astro)

10. Naming your dog what everyone else names their dogs (Spot, Bingo, Max)

So what are good names for dogs?

1. Name your dog after the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Michelangelo, Donatello, Raphael, Leonardo)

2. Name your dog after your favorite alcoholic drink or ethnic/exotic food (Vodka, Cuervo, Pucker, Spam, Wasabi)

3. Name your dog after a retro sit-com character (Punky, Rerun)

4. Name your dog after someone important in history (Einstein, Napolean, Mozart)

5. Name your dog after a Native American group (Apache, Miwok, Dakota)

6. Name your dog cleverly. For example, if you dog has tons of fur, don't call him Furry. Call him Chewbacca. If your dog is blind, call him Ray. If he is fat, call him Buddha. If your dog is missing some legs, call her Eileen. You get it.

7. Name your dog after powerful ancient or mythical figure (Athena, Zeus)

8. Name your dog a human name that sounds better for a dog than for a human (Colby, Marty, Oliver, Molly, Cody, Howie, Toby)

9. Give your dog a name with a prefix (Dr. Dre, Uncle Phil, Sir Charles, Air Jordan)

10. Name your dog with irony. If you've got a big, tough pit bull, name her Precious. If you've got a tiny dog, name her Monster. You can name your super-hyper jumpy dog Prozac and your lazy dog Ritalin.

The Worst Thing I've Ever Heard

On the drive from Santa Clara to my physical the-rapist in Fremont, a 20-minute drive, I heard the R.Kelly song "Trapped in the Closet" for the first time in its entirety. I've seen excerpts of the videos on VH1's Best Week Ever, in addition to comedians mocking it. And my sister Nik recently sent me a text message reading "This R. Kelly song is making me comatose" -- I Get it! You can't stop listening, but don't know how to react! Is this a joke? He rambles on this "He said..." "and then she said" trip for about half an hour, not really singing to a melody. Kind of like if I were to take any random novel or screenplay and read it aloud in a singing voice with no particular melody or pattern. This is the worst thing I've ever heard!!

"Worst thing I've ever heard" list

1. "Trapped in the Closet" parts 1-5, by R. Kelly

2. Jessica and Ashlee Simpson duet of "Little Drummer Boy"

3. "I Would Do Anything for Love" by Meatloaf

4. Britney Spears's covers of "I Love Rock & Roll" and "My Prerogative"

5. Anything sung or said by Ashanti

Random Raves

YAY! OK, so I was entertained by Bobby Brown's reality show on BRAVO last night. I don't think Whitney enjoys this type of spotlight as much as he does.

YAY! OK, so I was also entertained by P.M. Dawn's performance on Hit Me Baby One More Time.

YAY! Yay for Chicago and Earth, Wind & Fire, two of my favorite bands, performing together on The Today Show this morning. Sans Peter Cetera and Maurice White, but still awesome. I'm looking forward to when their tour hits the Bay later this summer. Both bands produced so much good music for such a long time, that each could hold their own great show, but hearing them play together and play sing on each other's songs is an added treat.

YAY! My physical the-rapist (SNL "Celebrity Jeopardy" reference) showed me how to tape up my ankle and even let me secretly run off with a roll of pre-wrap. I wasn't too sure about him at first, but now I see that he's a really good the-rapist and that he has that certain charm about him that I didn't think he had.

YAY! A coworker came by and gave out ice cream sammiches that just hit the spot.

YAY! I finally finished the book The World is Flat. It was not a quick read -- took me almost 2 months, but was interesting and enlightening. Discusses how technology, trends and certain events contribute (and also ones that discourage) the levelling of the world, in terms of business, knowledge, etc. The playing field is no longer "vertical" as countries such as India and China have been seriously advancing as major technological players.

YAY! Yay for juicy British TV. I just finished the first series (season) of Footballers Wives. Yeah, they disregard the possessive apostrophe that belongs in there. It's kind of the British version of Desperate Housewives, only at least 10 times more scandalous. British TV is so great -- their wit is spot on and they don't hold back with the issues that American media barely dares to touch. Ohh yeah, and all the footballers on this show are VERY HOT!

YAY! For the long weekend coming up.

BOO! Just found out Luther Vandross passed away....