MY LIFE IN WORDS , PICS, SONG LYRICS & VIDEO

ARTICLE - A GORILLA LOVE STORY

2012-02-14T12:36:00.000-05:00

A Gorilla Love Story

Submitted by Mary Friona, Reporter

Tuesday, February 14th, 2012,

BUFFALO, NY - Sydney loves eating her heart-shaped treat off of the windows, but there is something even sweeter than cupcake frosting inside the gorilla habitat. This is a story about love. This is a family. Koga, his lady, Sydney, and their baby, Amari.
This story started at the Memphis Zoo, where Koga was in an all-bachelor group destined to be single forever, until he was sent to the Buffalo Zoo and immediately fell for Sydney. There were no flowers or chocolates or hand-holding. The only way zoo keepers knew of this affection was the fact that Koga was willing to share his food with Sydney.
Soon, their love brought them little baby Amari. An adorable 15-pound baby girl gorilla. Amari just rides along on her mama's back. Turns out Sydney is quite the mama. Koga takes a more hands-off approach.
You can see the gorilla family hanging out in their habitat at the Buffalo Zoo. Visit them at www.buffalozoo.org

QUOTE -OPPORTUNITY - Henry Ford

2012-02-13T14:32:00.000-05:00

An Opportunity
===============
Failure is simply an opportunity to begin again,
this time more intelligently.

~Henry Ford~

NEWS - FEARS RESEARCH MONKEYS ARE ILLEGALLY TAKEN FROM WILD

2012-02-13T03:18:00.000-05:00

Fears research monkeys are illegally taken from wild

Richard Baker, Nick McKenzie

February 13, 2012

AUSTRALIA'S importation of primates for research has sparked an investigation into allegations that the little-known trade breaches international agreements on animal welfare.
The Deputy Speaker of Federal Parliament, Anna Burke, has asked the Trade Minister, Craig Emerson, if monkeys imported from Indonesia, classified as bred in captivity, have been taken from the wild, in breach of Australian and international protocols.
Ms Burke has also questioned why Australia has had to import at least 368 pigtail macaques from Indonesia for research since 2000, when it has three long-established, government-funded primate breeding centres in Victoria and NSW.
Australia and Indonesia are signatories to the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species, which bans the export for research of primates caught in the wild.
An undercover investigation by a British animal rights group found Indonesia was classing monkeys from an island off West Java as being bred in captivity rather than in the wild. The island is home to the monkeys imported by Australia.
The pigtail macaque is in danger of being added to the threatened species list unless trade is strictly regulated. The European Union recently suspended imports.
In a letter to Mr Emerson, Ms Burke said importing primates was irresponsible because of uncertainty about their origins.
"The unethical importation of these creatures is not necessary as we have the capacity to supply primates for research in Australia through our three domestic primate breeding facilities,'' she said.
Ms Burke wrote to Mr Emerson after meeting the animal rights group Humane Research Australia last year.
The push for a ban on importing primates for research is gathering momentum, with a federal Labor MP, Mike Symon, last year presenting a petition with 10,300 signatures to Parliament.
Indonesia's Garuda airline said last year that it would no longer transport primates or other animals destined for use in research, toxicity testing and other experiments.
The Health Department is reviewing its policy on primate imports for research and has called for public submissions. The present policy bans research on monkeys captured in the wild.
The Environment Department, which along with the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service oversees the importation of the monkeys, said it relied on the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species' Indonesian officials to verify the accuracy of information provided in export permits.
Indonesia's Tinjil Island is the source of the pigtail macaques exported to Australia.
An Environment Department spokeswoman said the department was not aware of any Australian officials visiting Tinjil Island to assess Indonesia's claim monkeys are bred in captivity.
Presenting the petition to Parliament in November, Mr Symon said the Indonesian authority responsible for ensuring the country's obligations to the international convention on trade of endangered species were met had classified the monkeys as "born in captivity", and therefore exempt from export bans.
A report by the British Union Against Vivisection rejected the claim that island breeding could be considered captive breeding.
"True captive breeding comprises a closed environment where variables can be strictly controlled … one where monkeys are excluded from other wildlife and placed in an environment where they have no direct impact on the ecosystem," it said.
The chief executive of Humane Research Australia, Helen Marston, said Australia should aim to end the use of primates in medical research rather than import animals.
''Banning the importation of further animals should not be of any detriment to Australian research," she said.
The secretariat of the Convention on the International Trade of Endangered Species did not respond to questions about allegations its Indonesia-based management team was failing to stop the improper export of monkeys.

NEWS - WHITNEY HOUSTON (R&B/POP SINGER) DIES AT AGE 48

2012-02-12T14:34:00.002-05:00

Singer Whitney Houston dies at 48

By the CNN Wire Staff

February 12, 2012

Los Angeles (CNN) -- Legendary pop singer Whitney Houston was found dead Saturday at a Beverly Hills, California, hotel, officials said. She was 48.
The entertainer, whose incredible talent was discovered at an early age, was pronounced dead at 3:55 p.m. (6:55 p.m. ET) at the Beverly Hilton hotel despite resuscitation efforts, a police spokesman said.
Beverly Hills Police Lt. Mark Rosen said there were "no obvious signs of criminal intent" and that the cause of her death is being investigated.
Houston's bodyguard found her body, said Courtney Barnes, publicist for hip-hop artist Ray J, who was dating the pop diva.
According to her official website, Houston sold more than 170 million albums, singles and videos. But she also struggled with addiction problems over the years.
Houston, whose hits included "The Greatest Love of All," died on the eve of the 54th annual Grammy Awards at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. She had performed as late as Thursday night at a pre-Grammy event in the area. A pre-Grammy party was scheduled Saturday night at the Beverly Hilton.
Music producer Jimmy Jam, after conversations with those heading up to Sunday's night show, told CNN that he believes the event will change significantly -- including a tribute to the singer.
The entertainer recently returned to a movie set for "Sparkle," a remake of the 1976 hit, which was loosely based on the story of The Supremes. It is scheduled be released nationwide in August, according to Sony Pictures. It was her first movie role since 1996's "The Preacher's Wife."
News of her death elicited a flood of reaction from fans and fellow celebrities alike.
Singer Aretha Franklin said, "I just can't talk about it now. It's so stunning and unbelievable. I couldn't believe what I was reading coming across the TV screen. My heart goes out to Cissy (Houston's mother), her daughter Bobbi Kris, her family and Bobby (Brown)."
Dolly Parton, who wrote "I Will Always Love You," said, "mine is only one of the millions of hearts broken over the death of Whitney Houston. I will always be grateful and in awe of the wonderful performance she did on my song and I can truly say from the bottom of my heart, 'Whitney, I will always love you. You will be missed.'"
Another entertainment legend, Quincy Jones, said he was "absolutely heartbroken" by the news. "She was a true original and a talent beyond compare," he said.
Houston's body of work included a string of Billboard No. 1 hits in the 1980s, including "Saving All My Love for You," "How Will I Know," "The Greatest Love of All," "Where Do Broken Hearts Go," and "I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)."
Billboard put her soundtrack to the 1992 movie "The Bodyguard" as one of the top 10 biggest-selling albums of all time. She also starred in the film with Kevin Costner. The soundtrack included the hit,"I Will Always Love You."
Whitney Houston was born on August 9, 1963, in Newark, New Jersey.
Famed music producer Clive Davis reportedly spotted Houston 20 years later in a New York nightclub, signing her on the spot, according to her website. Davis steered Houston's career for more than 25 years, also serving as a mentor.
Just Thursday, Davis told CNN's "Piers Morgan Tonight" that, with Houston, "I saw a depth and a range and soul ... that rarely ranks at the top level. And that's why we've been working together ever since."
The singer's rendition of the national anthem at the 1991 Super Bowl, days into the first Persian Gulf War, earned raves and cemented her place in the American musical landscape.
After "The Bodyguard," Houston went on to appear in several more films in the 1990s, including "Waiting to Exhale."
In 2000, Houston earned her sixth Grammy for best female R&B performance and, a month later, she was named female artist of the decade at the "Soul Train" Music Awards.
Her career stalled, however, in subsequent years as she entered rehab for addiction problems.
Houston took a hiatus for several years before releasing her first album in seven years, "I Look to You," in 2009.
"I just took a break, which sometimes you have to," said Houston. "You have to know when to slow that train down and kind of just sit back and relax for a minute."
In May 2011, Houston got help for her much-publicized struggle with drugs and alcohol, her representative said at the time.
In a 2009 interview with Oprah Winfrey, Houston recalled how her mother arrived one day at her doorstep at her daughter's house with sheriff's officers and a court order in a drug intervention. She talked about doing cocaine and smoking marijuana.
"(My mother) says, 'I have a court (injunction) here,'" Houston said. "Either you do it my way, or we're just not going to do this at all. We are both going to go on TV, and you're going to retire.'"
Houston had a high-profile and tumultuous marriage to Bobby Brown, a former "New Edition" star who has had multiple brushes with the law.
The couple appeared together in the mid-2000s on the reality show "Being Bobby Brown." They had one child together, Bobbi Kristina.
Houston was the cousin of Dionne Warwick, another acclaimed performer.
Singer Lionel Richie told CNN that Houston was one of the best.
"She had that voice that could just turn a story, a melody into magical notes," Richie said.

NEWS - TINY PRIMATE 'TALKS' SECRETLY IN ULTRASOUND

2012-02-12T03:14:00.000-05:00

Tiny primate ‘talks’ secretly in ultrasound

February 12, 2012

Philippines: One of the world’s smallest primates, the Philippine tarsier, communicates in a range of ultrasound inaudible to predator and prey alike, according to a study published on Wednesday.

No bigger than a man’s hand, Tarsius syrichta can hear and emit sounds at a frequency that effectively gives it a private channel for issuing warnings or ferreting out crickets for a night time snack.

Only a handful of mammals are known to be able to send and receive vocal signals in the ultrasound range, above 20 kilohertz (kHz), including some whales, domestic cats and a few of the many species of bats.

And few of these can squeal, screech or squawk at the same sonic altitudes as the saucer-eyed tarsier, which up to now had been mistakenly described as “ordinarily silent.”

Its finely-tuned ears are capable of picking up frequencies above 90 kHz, and it can vocalise in a range around 70 kHz. By comparison, humans generally can’t hear anything above 20 kHz, and a dog whistle is pitched to between 22 and 23 kHz.

A team of scientists from the United States and the Philippines led by Marissa Ramsier of Humboldt State University gathered their inaudible results in two ways.

First they captured six of the docile nocturnal creatures and placed them inside custom-build sound chambers to test their sensitivity to high-pitched sounds. To measure the frequency of the tarsier’s ultrasound chatter, the researchers recorded another 35 specimens in the wild.

“The minimum frequency of the call – 67 kHz – is the highest value of any terrestrial mammal, excluding bats and some rodents,” said the study, published in the British Royal Society’s Biology Letters.

What advantages do the tarsier’s high-end vocal acrobatics confer? There are several, they suggest. One is being able to sound a silent alarm.

“Ultrasonic calls can be advantageous to both the signaller and receiver as they are potentially difficult for predators to detect and localise,” the researchers explain.

The tarsier’s exceptional hearing may also facilitate acoustic eavesdropping on noises emitted by prey, which range from crickets and cockroaches – their staple diet.

Finally, they speculates, being able to communicate in ultrasonic ranges filters out all the low-frequency “noise” of a tropical environment.

Tarsier’s have five-digit hands that eerily resemble – in emaciated form – their human counterparts. Lacking the typical “night vision” of other nocturnal creatures, they also have – in relation to their body size – the largest eyes of any primate.

NEWS - RAPID URBANISATION PUTS LIVES OF MONKEYS IN DANGER

2012-02-12T03:12:00.002-05:00

Rapid urbanisation puts lives of monkeys in danger

Animal rights group rescues pregnant primate beaten by residents

By S. Narendra, Correspondent
Published: 00:00 February 12, 2012

Mumbai: Animal rights activists rescued a pregnant monkey which was badly bruised after being beaten up by local people in a town near Mumbai. The monkey is recovering in a veterinary hospital.
However, another female Rhesus monkey died from burn injuries. The Thane Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) tried to save it after it came into contact with a high-tension electric wire.
Both animals were victims of loss of habitat through rapid urbanisation, Thane SPCA president Shakuntala Majumdar said.
The Rhesus macaque that got electrocuted fell on a high-tension wire in the industrial area of Kolshet in Thane on February 4 and got badly burnt, Majumdar said.
"Having entered the urban area, the Rhesus monkey was swaying from height to height and got electrocuted ... She was thrown down more than 70 feet. She sustained more than 70 per cent burns on her body, before she was rushed our hospital on February 4," Majumdar told Gulf News yesterday.
"What moved us most is that even after having sustained critical internal injuries as well as burns, she was never aggressive for even one day when she was dressed or treated by our doctors, while she lived. She died on Tuesday, after being in our care for three days," she said.
The second female monkey was relatively lucky. "On Monday, we received information that a female monkey was beaten up by some dwellers of a slum located on Pokharan Road-II of Thane for having entered their area. When we rushed to the spot, she could hardly move. She is in an advanced stage of pregnancy. Without losing any time we brought her to our nearby hospital.
Vision lost in one eye
"She was so badly wounded that for the first few days she was not in a position to keep her head up or open her mouth. She had lost vision in one eye and the other was swollen and closed. She had to be hand-fed pureed fruits and water through a syringe," Majumdar said.
"Today our wildlife surgeon gave us a good progress report about this monkey. Though it will be many more days before we can even think of rehabilitating her, but chances are good. Maybe by then, she will have given birth," Majumdar said.

NEWS - ORPHANED BABY CHIMP IS ADOPTED BY ANOTHER MOTHER AT ZOO IN INCREDIBLE TALE OF COMPASSION AMONG OUR PRIMATES

2012-02-11T03:18:00.000-05:00

Orphaned baby chimp is adopted by another mother at zoo in incredible tale of compassion among our primate cousins

By Allan Hall

Last updated at 1:24 PM on 11th February 2012

A baby chimpanzee has found a new mother in a zoo in Germany after she was rejected by her own.
Three-week-old female Nayla's adoption by another chimp at Osnabruek Zoo, north-west Germany, shows the high level of nurturing and maternal instincts of man's closest animal cousins.
More importantly, for a bewildered and lost little mite, it means that Nayla will not have to be raised by human hand but can live among her own.

Nayla was born at Osnabrueck Zoo three weeks ago, but her mother, Vakanga, 17, rejected her at the weekend, casting her aside in her enclosure.
Normally this would have meant instant intervention on the part of zookeepers if he was to survive.

But, before they could step in, zoo staff witnessed something remarkable. A eight-year-old male called Kume stepped in as a surrogate father to the abandoned infant.
Keepers watched as he lovingly groomed the orphaned chimp and carried her around like females do.
Wolfgang Festl, in charge of the primates at the zoo, said: 'We saw at the weekend that she was on her own. And then just hours later she was being cared for by Kume.'
For an entire day the zoo staff watched what was taking place at the colony, where 10 chimps live together.
Mr Festl said: 'Throughout the day Kume was grooming the baby, walking around with him and even stuck his finger in his mouth to keep him quiet - like a dummy.'

Zoo inspector Hans-Jürgen Schröder and director Dr Susanne Klomburg hoped Vakanga would take Nayla back because, helpful though Kume was, he could not feed his new daughter.
Dr Klomburg said: 'If that failed, we hoped we could give a bottle to the baby if Kume sat near the bars.
'Chimps learn through observation and if we had more time we could have showed Kume what we wanted to do with a dummy or a doll.'
But Kume didn't let little Nayla out of his grip for days, and she grew gradually weaker.
Then on Tuesday this week Kume finally left baby Nayla alone and staff we able to enter the enclosure and give her some much-needed milk.
And then keepers witnessed something even more extraordinary.
Nayla was picked up by a chimpanzee called Vanessa, aged 27, who put the infant on her back with her own two-year-old daughter, Lila.
Vanessa is able to feed Nayla and has been accepted as having another youngster in tow by the group - a complex and strongly hierarchical structure.
Dr Klomburg added: 'Little Lila was a bit peeved at first having to share the attention of her mother with another. And Kume was off sleeping - being a stepdad took it out of him!'
Chimps rejecting their young is an extremely rare phenomenon - but another chimp adopting such an outcast is even more rare.
'At least there is a happy ending to this story,' said Dr Klomburg.

NEWS - MYSTERY MONKEY FINDS HOME IN ST. PETE

2012-02-11T03:09:00.000-05:00

Mystery monkey finds home in St. Pete

Feb 11, 2012

St. Petersburg, Florida - Tampa Bay's mystery monkey seems to have found a home behind the house of a St. Petersburg couple. The homeowners, who do not want to be identified, feed the monkey daily and say he follows them around their house peeking in the windows from the outside.
In an email to 10 News the family says they have named the monkey Mr. Monk.
"It has been a constant progression of trust. At first he was very wary of us, and shy, and nervous. But time has passed and he has realized that we mean no harm and, in fact, welcome him to our little piece of paradise," the couple wrote.
The monkey has been roaming the Bay area for 3-years now, spotted everywhere from Hudson and Clearwater to Temple Terrace and South St. Petersburg.
The monkey's story has garnered national attention including talk on Comedy Central's Colbert Report. A song has been written about the monkey, even a fictitious Facebook page was created for the rhesus macaque.
Florida Fish and Wildlife has tried to capture the monkey in hopes that they can place him in a wildlife facility with other macaques. Officials have feared the monkey might eventually attack someone since he is outside of his normal environment.
It is believed the monkey was originally living in the Silver Spring area before he was likely chased out of his colony.
The St. Petersburg homeowners say they can get within a foot of Mr. Monk and that he will follow them on afternoon walks along their driveway.
The couple say they feed him bananas and Oreo cookies. "He eats (the Oreos) just like you do ... he takes it apart and licks the creamy center, then eats the cookie," the family wrote.
Just as they have for three years, WFC officials hope the family will stop feeding the monkey and instead call them to have Mr. Monk captured. Gary Morse, FWC spokesperson says again they are afraid the monkey will eventually attack someone.
"While we express human kindness in certain terms that humans understand, animals don't usually understand that, they simply don't have that capacity," Morse said.
Vernon Yates, founder of Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation added if the monkey is not safely captured he believes the story of Mr. Monk will have a very sad ending.
"If the monkey is starting to look at people for food, as sad as it may seem it's almost to a point, just kill him now and avoid the rush because you are setting it up for a major, major problem," Yates said.

ODD THINGS I THINK ALLOT ABOUT - DOUBLE DECKER BUS CONVERSIONS

2012-02-06T16:22:00.000-05:00

yeah, i have a thing for campers, buses and double deckers.
i dont know why, but i always say "if i have to run to zion..i want to make sure i can take most of my things with me when i go".

so, that leads me down trails where i pour myself over thoughts of getting and gutting a camper, bus, or double decker.

more often than not, i always look at a double decker, using buses and camer conversions as the idea plots behind my thinking of HOW to do this.

of course, the idea requires the object, of which i DO NOT have the financial means to obtain. (COME ON LOTTERY! LET US WIN!)
but if i did...and most of the time its pure dreaming anyway....

id convert a double decker into a mobile home.

one of the main criteria for said object is it has to have the staircase to the uppder level INSIE the thing. allot of them are made as transport motors, so the stairs are outside.
and the double would also have to have an ENCLOSED upper area. theres many that are not closed in.

from there, i have decised that living areas would be on the lower area: living room/kitchen/ dining area/ enertainment, etc., maybe even a half bath
beds, shower/bath, clothes, would be in the upper area.

the images are very close to my idea, except the lower level, where the back bedroom is would either be the kitchen or the living room. i havnt gotten that far in my thinking.

id LOVE to work on this idea...and utilize everything i could for storage inside the vehicle.
from seating to cabinetry, to shelving, and things to use. everywhere you looked would hold something in it, or on it.

MICHELLE

NEWS -PRIMATE PALACE OPENS AT AUSTIN, TEXAS ZOO

2012-02-05T01:02:00.000-05:00

Primate Palace opens at Austin Zoo

By Ben Wear AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

Makayla, like anyone moving into new and strange living quarters, seemed a bit shaken by the experience Saturday.
She huddled under what appeared to be her favorite gray blankie and peered nervously at a visitor through the wire of her cage. Makayla, you see, is a capushin monkey who, like a dozen or so of her simian friends, is spending her first days in the Austin Zoo and Animal Sanctuary's new Primate Palace.
On Saturday, the rescue zoo, in Oak Hill near U.S. 290, celebrated the opening of the $102,000 revamped former pony barn. The small wood-frame building over the past three years had to be re-leveled, repainted (including a mural on one side), outfitted with several monkey "bedrooms" inside and expanded to the west with large outdoor cages for the residents.
Openings in the palace wall allow the monkeys to move at their leisure between the heated indoors (or air-conditioned, as the seasons demand) and the cages outdoors with ropes and platforms for climbing.
Dozens of zoo-goers gathered outside those cages on the brisk but pleasant afternoon as head zookeeper Sara King and primate expert Kelly Todd talked about the monkeys and how they came to live in the Hill Country.
The facility is a rescue zoo, one that does not seek out animals for display but rather accepts animals surrendered by civilian owners (including a lion that was living with an over-the-road trucker), given up by research or medical facilities, or captured by agencies like the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.
Donna King, a capuchin so named for a hairdo that resembles boxing promoter Don King's wild locks, had been a test subject for psychotropic drugs in an earlier life, zoo Executive Director Patti Clark said. Despite having been at the zoo for quite a while, Ms. King has never been able to grow back much of her coat, Clark said.
But most of the zoo's 30 or so primates, and the other 300 or so big cats, bears, foxes, birds and other animals at the sanctuary, looked hale Saturday.
The sanctuary, after a rough few years of lax management, poor morale and sometimes surly customer service under its previous owners, now has a $900,000 annual budget, a larger donor base and 15 full-time employees, Clark said.
"It's all about giving these (animals) a better opportunity than they had before," Todd said.

NEWS - NEWBORN GORILLA MAKES HIS 1st APPEARANCE AT GULF BREEZE ZOO

2012-02-04T14:46:00.000-05:00

Newborn gorilla makes his first appearance at Gulf Breeze Zoo

Public suggests names for gorilla

11:00 PM, Feb. 4, 2012

Uno.
Maybe Sam.
How about Sunny?
There was no shortage of suggestions Saturday for a name to give a baby gorilla, the newest family member at The Gulf Breeze Zoo.
The 2-week-old male gorilla, the first born at the zoo, made its first public appearance to a crowd anxious to catch a glimpse of the little fellow. He was born Jan. 23 but has been nursed by zookeepers since.
Kayte Wanko, director of the zoo, held the infant gorilla in her lap in the zoo's nursery for the visitors.
Wanko explained there were some minor complications, but mother and baby are fine.
"She's a first-time mom," Wanko said.
The baby will be nursed for the next five months and then reintroduced to the parents.
Tenielle Welch, an assistant coordinator with the zoo, said the mother recognizes the baby but has yet to build a bond with him.
"They're seeing each other every day," she said.
The zoo workers have been taking the baby to see the parents every morning and evening since its birth.
The young star attracted a great deal of attention. Many of the visitors who stopped by said he was cute and offered up their thoughts for a name.
Parents pointed to the baby in Wanko's lap and showed their children the gorilla's tiny, wrinkled, hairy body.
Madolyn Johnson said she came out to see the baby after she saw the picture in the News Journal.
"He looks smaller than I thought," she said. "Precious, precious."
She said she thought a few names for him could be Uno or Billy.
"I thought Uno, because he's the first-born," she said.
Jessica Beas said she was visiting the zoo and heard about the baby gorilla.
"I think he's adorable," she said.

NEWS - FACEBOOK GRAFFITI ARTIST DAVID CHOE FROM HOMELESS TO MILLIONS

2012-02-04T07:39:00.000-05:00

Facebook graffiti artist David Choe, from homeless to millions

By Chenda Ngak

Choe was hired by then Facebook president Sean Parker to paint a mural at Facebook's first office in Palo Alto in 2005. When the mural was finished, Parker gave Choe the option of taking cash or stock options. At the time, Facebook was only a year old and only open to college and high school students. There was no "like" button, no revenue from advertising and no hype of a $5 billion dollar IPO.
Instead of taking cash, Choe took a chance and opted for the stock options. If you're not familiar with the Silicon Valley culture, gambling on a dot com has either failed miserably or made millionaires out of receptionists.
According to a Facebook employee, Choe was added on as an "adviser" and received 0.1 to 0.25 percent of the company. After you do the math, Choe's share could be worth $200 million. That's a mind-blowing figure, if you also consider that Choe has been homeless since painting that fateful mural.
In the aftermath of Facebook's filing and the value of his share of the social network, Choe took to his blog to express his disbelief.
"Have you had the dream where you ARE this guy?!? And then some kind of happy accident happens, and as you're in the middle of this glorious car crash, you stop to realize, that there is actually no such thing as an accident, and no chance encounters, and that everything has a direct purpose?"
Choe embodies a true tale of an artist's transformation from rags-to-riches in the most dramatic fashion. If Wednesday was a historic day for Facebook, it was also a momentous occasion for the American dream.

NEWS - ZOO GORILLA KIMANI PREDICTS PATRIOTS TO WIN SUPER BOWL AFTER LITLE JOE BALKS (would be interesting to see if he picked right, lol)

2012-02-03T07:40:00.000-05:00

Zoo gorilla Kimani predicts Patriots to win Super Bowl after Little Joe balks

Posted by Matt Rocheleau February 3, 2012

By Matt Rocheleau, Town Correspondent

Even Little Joe, a gorilla who is considered to be one of the most intelligent animals at the Franklin Park Zoo, was unable to choose who he thinks will win Sunday’s Super Bowl, which has the narrowest point spread in decades.
With close ties to both New York and New England, Little Joe was called upon this morning to predict whether he thinks the Patriots or Giants will take home the Vince Lombardi Trophy.
Zoo staff set up boxes with the two team’s names on them this morning, and Little Joe was supposed to pick one. But he declined to show favor to either contender, likely, according to zoo officials, because his ties to the two team’s cities made the choice “a tough pick for him to make.”
Instead, 7-year-old gorilla Kimani stepped into the role of soothsaying primate and selected the Patriots to win.
Kimani, who likes to play with Little Joe, is a Boston native and lifelong resident. Little Joe was born at the Bronx Zoo in 1993, but has lived at Franklin Park in Boston for the past 15 years.
One of eight gorillas at the zoo, Kimani is the daughter of Kit and Kiki and the middle-offspring between her older sister Kira and younger sister Kambiri.
“Kimani likes to get the attention of the other gorillas and tries to entice them to chase her throughout the exhibit,” the zoo says on its website. “She always wants someone to chase and play with her. Kimani likes grapes and cantaloupe.”
Globe columnist Tony Massarotti, citing Las Vegas odds makers, wrote today that "the Patriots essentially have been a three-point favorite from the start - the smallest Super Bowl point spread in roughly 30 years."
Little Joe was asked to make his public prediction at the gorilla exhibit in the Tropical Forest section of the zoo this morning, two days before he plans to host a football-themed party to celebrate both his 19th birthday and the NFL title game.
On Super Bowl Sunday, the gorilla exhibit in the Tropical Forest where Little Joe lives will be festively decorated for a “Big Game Birthday Party” starting at 10:30 a.m.
Little Joe and all of his gorilla friends will enjoy birthday treats made for them. And, visitors will be able to sign a giant birthday card for Little Joe and eat cake made by White’s Fine Cakes & Pastry, which will be available on a first-come, first-serve basis.
Zookeepers call Joe "The Scientist" as well as "Don Juan," and he is considered among the most intelligent of the animals at Franklin Park.
Little Joe, a particularly social, 5-foot tall, 300-pound gorilla, lives among the other gorillas at Franklin Park Zoo in a multi-million dollar habitat built after he escaped in 2003 on two occasion.
During his second, high-profile escape, the western lowland gorilla attacked and injured a 2-year-old girl and an 18-year-old woman, who was an off-duty zoo employee. The incident alarmed the neighborhood, sparked criticism of the zoo.

NEWS - GORILLA TO PREDICT SUPER BOWL WINNER

2012-02-02T16:48:00.000-05:00

Gorilla to predict Super Bowl winner

Published: Feb. 2, 2012 at 1:17 PM

BOSTON, Feb. 2 (UPI) -- Officials at Boston's Franklin Park Zoo said their star gorilla, Little Joe, will be asked Friday to predict the outcome of the Super Bowl.
The zookeepers said Little Joe, whose 19th birthday party is scheduled for the same day as the big game, will be given two boxes Friday, one labeled for the New York Giants and one labeled for the New England Patriots, The Boston Globe reported Thursday.
"We know his heart lies with his family at Franklin Park Zoo, so we've got a feeling his pick will make us proud," the zoo said on its Web site.
Zookeepers said Little Joe, who is considered one of the facility's smartest animals, will then be treated to a Super Bowl-themed birthday party Sunday with special treats for him and his gorilla friends.

NEWS - BONOS 'ELEVATION PARTNERS' AMONG HOLDS SHARED ON FACEBOOK STOCK...(Told My Husband We Should Invest, BONOS THERE!)

2012-02-02T16:46:00.000-05:00

Bono’s Elevation Partners among holds share’s of Facebook’s stock

Facebook is going public, and among the tech geeks, bankers, entrepreneurs and high-profile investors getting in on the IPO is a famed singer and humanitarian from the world’s biggest rock and roll band.
“Certain entities” related with Elevation Partners, the private equity firm co-founded by U2 main man Bono, are recorded as holding shares of Facebook’s capital stock. Specifically, Elevation Partners bought one per cent of Facebook in 2009 for $90 million, according to the Telegraph. If Facebook is ultimately valued at $100 billion as many analysts predict, that will make Bono’s one per cent valued at a full billion! So, does this mean Bono will become a bona fide Facebook addict? You never know. But it sounds like Bono certainly “likes” the social networking giant. Pardon the pun.
One thing is certain: Facebook’s chief executive officer and co-founder Mark Zuckerberg is going to make a bundle off the Facebook IPO. The company’s 202-page S-1 filing shows that Zuckerberg will own a 28.4% stake in the business, and with predictions that Facebook’s valuation could hit $100 billion, the young entrepreneur could wind up with stock valued at a whopping $28.4 billion, according to reports from the Street. Other players jumping on the Facebook bandwagon and securing holdings include the Facebook staff, former Facebook president and current Spotify investor Sean Parker, Facebook co-founders Dustin Moskovitz and Eduardo Saverin, Russian investment firm Digital Sky Technologies, Goldman Sachs, Peter Thiel of PayPal, Accel Partners and more. What other superstars do you think will get in on Facebook stock?

NEWWS - U2s BONO INSPIRED BRAD PITT TO BECOME A HUMAINITARIAN

2012-02-02T16:44:00.000-05:00

U2’s Bono Inspired Brad Pitt to Become a Humanitarian

One would think Brad Pitt was nudged into humanitarian work thanks to his relationship with the always-charitable Angelina Jolie. But, that’s just not so. Pitt actually praises U2 frontman Bono with inspiring him to help make a difference in the world!
Speaking with the Hollywood Reporter, Pitt explained that he “sought out” Bono after he took a trip to Morocco and experienced personally how much certain areas of Africa were hurting.
The moving trip urged Pitt to “get off the couch” and join Bono and the other superstars who use their fame to help make the world a better place.
Turning to Bono, he asked for some humanitarian advice. “I sat down with him a few times and got involved in some of the stuff he was doing,” Pitt said.
Only after Pitt started getting out and doing good did he connect with current sweetheart, Jolie, on the set of Mr. & Mrs. Smith. “That may have been one of the things that brought us together. Certainly, I’ve met very few people more dedicated than she is,” he said. “She is always studying issues, daily. She has such compassion for the people she works with.”
Thanks to Bono and Jolie, Pitt knew how to respond when Hurricane Katrina ran its way through New Orleans in 2005. “There was a responsibility to make it right, which was not being answered wholly, so I decided to make that a focal point and help families return home, and in the process we started discovering the inadequacies of low-income housing,” he said.

2012-02-02T11:26:00.000-05:00

A Famous Gorilla Plays The Recorder, And We All May Learn Something

February 2, 2012

by Barbara J King

Enlarge Ronald H. Cohn/The Gorilla Foundation Koko with a recorder

Koko the gorilla is world-famous for her ability to communicate with humans using phrases in American Sign Language, and for her gentle play with pet cats. Now, a new study on Koko's play with wind instruments shows that she skillfully controls how she breathes.
That's a knockout conclusion because scientists have thought that humans alone, out of all the primates, can gain skillful, voluntary control over the act of breathing.
Think of blowing out candles on a birthday cake, or powerfully pushing air through a trumpet to play music. It's usually argued that skilled breathing like this originated only in the primate lineage at the point when specialized anatomy made speech possible.
Koko, of course, being a gorilla, cannot speak; she has no specialized anatomy for speech. Yet she does control her breathing in unusually precise ways. I'm always fascinated when an animal does something that she is supposed to be unable to do. And I think Koko's abilities have something to tell us about how we too may "grow" skills that may not come naturally to us.
The Koko study was conducted by Marcus Perlman, Francine G. Patterson and Ronald H. Cohn. Lead researcher Perlman is a cognitive psychologist with a recent Ph.D. from the University of California-Santa Cruz and a research associate at The Gorilla Foundation. (Along with Joanne E. Tanner, I'm a co-author on a forthcoming paper of Perlman's on gestural patterns in a mother-infant pair of zoo gorillas.)
Using a series of specific definitions and measurements, Perlman et al. coded videotapes of Koko playing with wind instruments like recorders, harmonicas and party favor whistles. They found 38 sequences from 17 different playing bouts to work with. The key result: When Koko plays these instruments, she adopts a pattern of breathing statistically different than her normal one. In both frequency and forcefulness, she alters her breathing in a volitional way.
Though Koko is the first gorilla to demonstrate voluntary breath control, Perlman et al. don't claim she's the only nonhuman ape to do so. The zoo-living orangutan Bonnie, for instance, learned to whistle after observing her human caretakers.
These captive actions challenge conclusions reached by studying fossils of extinct human ancestors. One influential paper suggests, for instance, that only late in evolutionary history did muscles and nerves allow for fine control of breathing, and thus, speech.
Koko, though, is immersed in a human environment; when she plays with instruments, she is rewarded with praise and occasionally with food. Could her skills have any meaning in an evolutionary context?
Perlman et al. note that free-ranging orangutans produce different sounds in different groups, suggesting a role for learning and cultural transmission. Wild chimpanzees vocalize differently according to which apes are around to listen; when they stealthily patrol their territory's boundaries, they choose to go silent. Some degree of fine breath control is certainly involved in these cases.
I particularly appreciate Perlman's urging, however, that we look at this whole matter in another way: It's not as if human children show evidence of innate breath control. Rather, just like Koko does, they learn breath control through shared cultural routines with their caretakers and play partners.
These cultural routines may differ across cultures. People like me, who grew up in the United States, learned as kids how to blow out those birthday candles and blow into that trumpet — and also how to hold our breath underwater. Gradually, through traditions and games shared with others, our skilled breathing comes to feel natural.
This is an embodied, ecological perspective on skill emergence. Through it, we come to see that it's not only skills like language and tool-making that flourish via shared social practice, but also actions like skilled breathing that might at first be attributed wholly to biology.
What a great point to keep in mind as we surround our children and, yes, our adult selves too, with ever-varied physical and mental challenges that may "grow" our skills. We may surprise ourselves by what we can learn to do — against all expectations.

NEWS - FLORIDA ZOO ASKS FOR HELP NAMING BABY GORILLA

2012-02-02T11:24:00.000-05:00

Gulf Breeze Zoo asks for help naming baby gorilla

The name that baby gorilla contest is on.

Zuri, Curious George and just plain Cute are among the dozens of names flowing into the The Breeze Zoo after zoo officials sent out a call to help name their new resident, a baby Western lowland gorilla.
The 5-pound bouncing baby boy was born on Jan. 23 and is the son of Rwanda, the 25-year-old mother, and Babuka, a 19-year-old male.
Kayte Wanko, zoo director, said name submissions are being accepted through Feb. 29. Zoo staff will vote and announce the name by March 15.
"He is the first baby gorilla to be born at the zoo," Wanko said. "We're raising him as close to gorilla as we can. We crawl around with him, sleep on the floor with him. A gorilla needs to be on its mother 24 hours a day."
Rwanda began to show signs of labor Sunday night. Twelve hours later, a cesarean section was performed.
The mother was unable to produce milk and displayed behavior that was potentially threatening to her offspring, which is not unusual for first-time and hand-reared mothers of all species. As a result, zoo staff are rotating mommy gorilla duties.
The work is paying off. The baby is robust and thriving. And, if all goes well, the wide-eyed, fuzzy-headed baby may be in his nursery, behind glass, where the public may see him on Saturday. Early afternoons will likely be the best viewing time, Wanko said.

NEWS - GORILLA BORN AT FLORIDA PANHANDLE ZOO

2012-02-02T11:22:00.000-05:00

posted on Thursday, 02.02.12

Gorilla born at Florida Panhandle zoo

The Associated Press

PENSACOLA, Fla. -- A zoo in the Florida Panhandle wants some helping naming a new gorilla.
The 5-pound male Western lowland gorilla was born Jan. 23 at the Gulf Breeze Zoo. The mother is a 25-year-old named Rwanda.
It's the first gorilla birth at the zoo in Gulf Breeze. Zoo director Kayte Wanko says the baby gorilla was delivered by a cesarean section.
Wanko says zoo staff members are caring for the baby gorilla for now because its mother could not produce milk and displayed behaviors that may be harmful to her offspring.
Wanko tells the Pensacola News Journal ( http://on.pnj.com/yahHeB) that names can be submitted by mail or in the gift shop through Feb. 29. After that, zoo staff will vote on a name and announce the winner by March 15.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/02/02/2620549/gorilla-born-at-florida-panhandle.html#storylink=cpy

NEWS - NEXT 'SURVIVOR' CAST TO INCLUDE TWO FROM SOUTH CAROLINA

2012-02-02T10:38:00.000-05:00

Thursday, Feb. 02, 2012

Next ‘Survivor’ cast includes two from SC

Two people from South Carolina will try to be the next “Survivor” as they compete in the newest season of the reality adventure series debuting Feb. 15.
Jay Byars – a Matthew McConaughey look-alike – is a 25-year-old model living in Gaffney. He told CBS that his hero is the adventure TV host Bear Grylls and counts several mission trips abroad in his experience.
Chelsea Meissner, a 26-year-old saleswoman from Charleston, also is competing. She was a champion equestrian rider and is inspired by her mother, who raised Chelsea as a single mom and now lives with Lyme disease.

This “Survivor” season pits men against women, who all have to live on one island. The prize still is $1 million for the person who can outlast and outwit the others.

Read more here: http://www.thestate.com/2012/02/02/2137301/next-survivor-cast-includes-two.html#storylink=omni_popular#storylink=cpy

NEWS - PUBLIC ART PLAYS ROLE IN TRANSFORMATION OF DOWNTOWN INTO TOURIST DRAW

2012-01-31T01:30:00.000-05:00

Public art plays role in transformation of downtown into tourist draw

BY STEVE LACKMEYER
Published: January 31, 2012

Many words have been written about the transformation of downtown Oklahoma City from a sleepy business district that went dead after work hours to one that is a nonstop place to live, work and play.
Tourists are being drawn by the improvements made the past two decades, most notably the Bricktown Canal, Oklahoma City Museum of Art, Oklahoma City National Memorial and the Myriad Gardens.
But if one really wants to get a good count of tourists on any given day, grab a seat near the Mickey Mantle statue in Bricktown and count how many times families stop for a photo. Similar scenes can be found at the Gates of Time at the Memorial, at the new waterfall at the entrance to the Myriad Gardens, or in front of the Womb Gallery on NW 9, where the entire building is one giant mural.
Public art can be found throughout downtown Oklahoma City, and if locals aren't noticing, visitors

are certainly enjoying the views. Art, by its very nature, can either be a hit or a flop with the public audience and certainly downtown has its share of both.But consider what a ride along the canal might be like without the tile mosaic American Indian themed mural at the north end of the waterway, or the “Inclined” sculpture by the Water Taxi booth, or the mural postcards of old downtown just north of the Reno Avenue Bridge.

QUOTE - Joan Boryenko

2012-01-29T20:13:00.001-05:00

"The question is not whether we will die, but how we will live."
Joan Borysenko

ARTICLE - CHASING THE DRAGON..AND THE MONKEY...AND THE ROOSTER

2012-01-29T11:02:00.000-05:00

Chasing the Dragon...and the Monkey and the Rooster

Updated: 2012-01-29 10:22

By Han Bingbin (China Daily)

The Chinese zodiac's 12 animal signs are always popular symbols in both East and West. And when the Lunar New Year arrives, enthusiasts all over the world are eager to get their hands on the best collections. This year, the focus is on stamps. Han Bingbin reports.

As a zodiac mascot, the dragon soars above its peers as the symbol of the year. Compared to the rabbit (which just gave up its one-year reign), the ox, rat, snake, monkey, pig, goat, rooster, tiger, horse and dog, the dragon is a notch above. Why? Because it is the only mystical beast in the zodiac barnyard and it also bears the aura of aristocracy. Its fire-breathing looks sometimes give rise to a misunderstanding. For example, the official dragon stamp released to commemorate the Spring Festival this year was criticized for its ferocious demeanor. Chinese netizens were quick to criticize the image on the stamp as "overbearing" and asked if it should not have been more benign.

The stamp's creator, designer Chen Shaohua defended his design online in his blog, carefully avoiding confrontation by refusing media interviews. The dragon's role in mythology was to ward off evil, he says. As a deified image passed down through generations, it deserves the respect and dignity of preserving its legendary reputation, and should not be subjected to arbitrary changes.
Chen is no greenhorn. He had previously designed four zodiac stamps over the last 20 years.
The selection committee this year had requested a younger, more modern dragon, he said on his blog, but Chen justified his design saying his dragon image was inspired by the patterns on the imperial Qing robes and Nine Dragon Wall. He said it symbolized China's growing confidence and importance on the world stage.
Chen probably learned from past experience. In 2010, his stamp design for the Year of the Tiger featured an affable-looking mother tiger sitting with her cub. The design lost to a rival entry that showed a youthful and energetic tiger, standing hands on hips.
However, collectors are unfazed by the chatter online. The negative comments have had no effect on sales. All over China, people lined up in the chill of winter to snap up the dragon stamps. When the stamps sold out at the post offices and official sources, the private market starting getting active and price hikes sent the value of the stamps soaring like, well, dragons.
By early January, a set of 20 dragon stamps was selling for as much as 350 yuan ($55) at Beijing's Madian Memorabilia Market, the biggest stamp market in Asia, compared with the original price of 24 yuan from the post office. Experts say many collectors are already prepared to pay more.
"For the price to go up to 500 yuan is a piece of cake," says Yu Yanping, a senior stamp dealer at Madian. He says the dragon stamps from the last two cycles have performed really well in the market. (The zodiac cycle is 12 years, so the last two Dragon years were in 2000 and 1988.)
A set of 80 dragon stamps from 1988 sells for about 3,000 yuan now, while a set of 32 stamps from 2000 is valued at more than 5,000 yuan.
Geng Shouzhong, author of the international award-winning Encyclopedia Knowledge of Chinese Philately, explains that in 2000, the Year of the Dragon coincided with a significant year in the Gregorian calendar, and many Chinese used the dragon stamps to post letters to mark the occasion. That left a limited number of mint-condition stamps, those valued most by traders and collectors.
Geng, with his 60 years of stamp-collecting experience, believes the price hike of the newly released dragon stamps is a mirage, as it is still untested by time.
Above all, Geng says the ultimate value of the stamp depends on how many were produced and how many tradable units are left over time.
These are the two main factors that help create valuable "legendary" stamps.
The monkey zodiac stamp released in 1980 was the first in the series released in China. Each monkey stamp can now fetch more than 10,000 yuan, and a complete set of 80 stamps will easily cost more than one million yuan.
It was at a time when the country was recovering from a "cultural revolution" (1966-76) and stamp collectors were only beginning to start up their hobby again. For that reason, the print-run was kept conservative and was to be only 6 million.
However, printing ink ran out sooner than expected and as a result, only 5 million monkey zodiac stamps were printed, Geng remembers. After further eliminating stamps that were of poor quality, the number of monkey zodiac stamps that finally showed up on the market was only about 4 million - the lowest number in the zodiac series to this day.
Since then, as public demands for these annual collectibles increased, the print numbers went up in response.
Between 1986 and 1991, the number stayed at around 120 million pieces. In 1992, the start of the second cycle of zodiac stamps, it increased to more than 200 million. In 1993, the Year of the Rooster, 250 million stamps were produced, effectively making that zodiac stamp the least valuable in the market today, according to Geng.
As public interest in zodiac stamps cooled, less stamps were printed in subsequent years, right up till 2003, the Year of the Goat. Only 38 million stamps were issued that year.
Yu from Madian Memorabilia Market says a set of 2003 Goat-Year stamps has now risen to about 1,700 yuan, appreciating from 80 yuan just two years ago.
Geng says that for those who collect stamps as an investment, there are still ways to observe the rise and fall of the market value. But the old collector frets that the monetary drivers overshadow the artistic intentions.
Stamp collecting is ultimately for the art, rather than for the money, he muses.
China Post seems to agree and each year, it invites renowned Chinese artists to submit designs for the zodiac stamps. Their contributions are assessed by a committee of experts and officials.
In the early years, it was a sacred task when an artist was asked to design the zodiac stamps. Early designers of the first zodiac stamps included prominent names such as master painter and sculptor Han Meilin and Zhou Lingzhao. The latter is the artist who created the third version of Chairman Mao Zedong's portrait, which was used for the founding ceremony of the People's Republic of China on Oct 1, 1949.
In the early days, too, it was more art than technology. Stamp printing used a technology that combined engraving (where the image was first incised by hand and then printed onto the stamps) and heliography. One advantage of that technology, Geng says, is that the image came out really vivid and stereoscopic.
For example, you can clearly see the detailed lines on the monkey fur. The monkey's facial expression was equally detailed and true to life, with the gilded eye a particular highlight.
For Yang Yao, a young but experienced stamp collector who works at China Post's Jiangsu Branch, this old-fashioned technology is what distinguishes the zodiac stamps from those issued by other countries.
In 1950 Japan was the first country to issue zodiac stamps, and now more than 90 countries regularly issue zodiac stamps. Many of these, especially Western countries, commission Chinese artists for the designs.
China's unique stamp-making technology still sets its zodiac stamps apart, for their "authentic Chinese flavor", Yang says.
But Geng grows nostalgic. The latest and current series of zodiac stamps has already abandoned part of the old method and uses only a heliographic (photographic) process, to minimize damage to stamps during printing.
Geng is updating his philatelic encyclopedia, and he notes that all the background knowledge about art and history is what makes it fun for the stamp collector. It requires an investment of time and patience to read and study, something he and his wife have been doing for decades.
"As the old adage goes, stamp collecting increases knowledge. This little postage stamp is truly a small encyclopedia," he says.

NEWS - 2 SMALL EARTHQUAKES RECORDED IN OKLAHOMA

2012-01-29T09:48:00.000-05:00

Two earthquakes recorded near Prague

The U.S. Geological Survey reports that two quakes hit near Prague about 5:30 a.m. Sunday. The earthquakes were about 43 miles from Oklahoma City.

FROM STAFF REPORTS

Published: January 29, 2012

Two earthquakes were recorded near Prague Sunday morning, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
A 2.7 magnitude quake hit six miles from Prague about 5:30 a.m. Sunday. The quake's epicenter was seven miles from Meeker and 43 miles from Oklahoma City.
About the same time, a 2.4 magnitude earthquake also was recorded five miles from Prague, eight from Meeker and 43 miles away from Oklahoma City.

NEWS - ROBERT HEGYES, 'EPSTEIN' FROM "WELCOME BACK KOTTER" DIES.

2012-01-27T03:53:00.000-05:00

Robert Hegyes, Epstein from ‘Welcome Back Kotter’, Dies

By Associated Press | January 27, 2012

(METUCHEN, N.J. ) — Robert Hegyes, the actor best known for playing Jewish Puerto Rican student Juan Epstein on the 1970s TV show “Welcome Back Kotter” has died. He was 60.
The Flynn & Son Funeral Home in Fords, N.J., said it was informed of Hegyes’ death Thursday by the actor’s family. A spokesman at JFK Medical Center in Edison, N.J., told the Star-Ledger newspaper that Hegyes, of Metuchen, arrived at the hospital Thursday morning in full cardiac arrest and died.

Hegyes was appearing on Broadway in 1975 when he auditioned for “Kotter,” a TV series about a teacher who returns to the inner-city New York school of his youth to teach a group of irreverent remedial students nicknamed the “Sweathogs.” They included the character Vinnie Barbarino, played by John Travolta. The show’s theme song, performed by John Sebastian, became a pop hit. Hegyes also appeared on many other TV series, including “Cagney & Lacey.”
He was born in Perth Amboy and grew up in Metuchen, the eldest child of a Hungarian father and Italian mother. He attended Rowan University, formerly Glassboro State College, in southern New Jersey, before heading to New York City after graduation. He returned to Rowan on several occasions to teach master classes in acting, a university spokesman said Thursday. “He was a good friend to the university,” spokesman Joe Cardona said.
Hegyes continued to act after “Kotter” and was a regular on “Cagney & Lacey.” He also guest-starred in shows including “Diagnosis Murder” and “The Drew Carey Show.” On his website, Hegyes wrote that he was inspired by Chico Marx, whom he had played in a touring production of a show about the Marx Bros. He also recalled how his mother encouraged him to get involved in theater as a teen.

QUOTE - NOT EASY -By: Arthur Williams

2012-01-27T03:47:00.000-05:00

Not Easy
=========
I'm not telling you it's going to be easy
I'm telling you it's going to be worth it.
~Arthur Williams~

NEWS - MOVIE SHOT IN OKLAHOMA CITY AREA TO SCREEN IN BRICKTOWN

2012-01-19T12:19:00.000-05:00

Movie shot in Oklahoma City area to screen in Bricktown

FROM STAFF REPORTS

Published: January 19, 2012

The locally filmed movie “Wolf Head” will be screened at 7 p.m. Thursday at Harkins Theatres, 150 E Reno Ave. The 90-minute film was produced, cast and shot in the greater Oklahoma City area.
According to a news release, the action-comedy centers on the overly sheltered Flannigan brothers who come home to discover their mother is sick and can no longer provide. So they turn to the only person who can help them make money: their mother's new boyfriend Leonard. He gets them started on a life of street hustling to make money, but things don't go as planned.
“Wolf Head” was written, directed and produced by filmmaker Ryan “Staples” Scott, founder of Yukon-based RYIT Creative.
Lucas Ross, Ryan Bellgardt, Jack Elliot and Emoly West appear in the film.

NEWS - KEVIN DURANT FILM SEEKS EXTRAS ON OKLAHOMA CITY!

2012-01-19T12:16:00.000-05:00

Aww, man! id do this in a heartbeat! i had a blast filming for 10 days on the set (as an extra) for the movie The Program in Columbia, SC...would be pretty awesome to be considered again for another movie to add to my portfolio of 'EXTRA' Cast Member ...:) MICHELLE

----------------------------------------------------------

Kevin Durant film seeks extras in Oklahoma City

FROM STAFF REPORTS

Published: January 19, 2012

The Kevin Durant film “Thunderstruck” is seeking extras for a shoot next week in Oklahoma City.
Extras will portray passers-by and neighbors in some street scenes on Monday and Wednesday, Freihofer Casting has announced. Tuesday, the casting office will hire 500 paid extras to portray Oklahoma City Thunder fans at a home game.
The casting office is looking for ages 11-70; entire families and all ethnicities will be considered. Children must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.
Extras must be available all day. Tuesday, extras will begin in the early afternoon and will shoot into the night. Applicants may email a recent photo and all contact information to the casting office at Submissions@FreihoferCasting.com. The photo must be attached to the email and the body of the email must include a name, city of residence, all phone numbers and an email address.
Additionally, the subject heading of the email should be THUNDERSTRUCK EXTRAS — (day(s) of availability). It is requested that all information is sent in one email.
Submissions must be received no later than noon Sunday.

QUOTE - 'UNTIL' By: James Baldwin

2012-01-19T09:31:00.000-05:00

Until
======
Not everything that is faced can be changed,
but nothing can be changed until it is faced.
~James Baldwin~

PEOPLE I KNOW WHO MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN YOUR WORLD - TEACHER HIGH ON ROMNEY : EVA ADDISON

2012-01-15T09:40:00.000-05:00

Sunday, Jan. 15, 2012

Teacher high on Romney

By ADAM BEAM

Eva Addison is not a Republican. But she is a conservative – a conservative who, since 2008, increasingly has become upset with the policies of President Barack Obama, a Democrat.
While Addison says she did not pay attention to the 2008 election, she is paying attention now. And her candidate is Mitt Romney.
“I feel like he’s got family values and that he’s honest with his dealings, and I don’t think there are many politicians that are honest,” she said. “I believe, with all my heart, he has the integrity it is going to take to turn America around economically and morally.”

Like Romney, Addison is a Latter-Day Saint. She attended Brigham Young University in Utah for three years before dropping out to get married, which she says “is a real typical Mormon thing.”
But that’s not why she is voting for Romney. In fact, she first strongly considered Texas Gov. Rick Perry, an evangelical Christian. But Perry’s performances in the debates last fall changed her mind.
“I don’t think (Perry) has the intelligence, and I don’t mean that in a bad way,” she said. “I don’t think he’s quick enough or has the intelligence on spur-of-the-moment stuff to make things work – and that has bothered me.”
Addison, 50, lives in Anderson, where she teaches fifth grade at a local elementary school. Her unhappiness with Obama stems from what she calls a “sense of entitlement” that she says Obama fosters among some people who take advantage of government programs like welfare.
“Obama wants to make things a whole lot easier on them as though they deserve (it),” she said.
In Romney, however, she sees a person who is “willing to sacrifice things we may want in order for our grandchildren to have things (they) may need.”
Romney was criticized last week for saying “I like being able to fire people,” a comment he made while campaigning in New Jersey. Romney was talking about health insurance companies and how he wants Americans to be able to “fire” them if they are unsatisfied with them.
But opponents used the comment to criticize Romney, calling him cold and out of touch with the needs of Americans, many of whom were fired during the Great Recession. (Perry’s campaign went so far as to make the comment a ringtone available for people to download to their phones.)
Addison, Romney’s supporter, is more forgiving.
“At first I thought, ‘Oh my goodness Mitt, you just said something terrible!’ ” Addison said. “But if someone is not doing their job, we have the right to go somewhere else to get somebody competent. I love that idea.”

NEWS - u2s 'SPIDER-MAN MUSICAL' MAKES BRADWAY HISTORY

2012-01-10T19:42:00.000-05:00

U2's Spider-Man Musical Makes Broadway History

Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark – the drama-packed musical toting a score from U2’s Bono and The Edge – has broken Broadway records to score the title of the highest single-week grossing show of all time.
The Daily Telegraph reports the production took in roughly $3 million over a nine-show period, which breaks the previous single-week grossing record held by the Wizard of Oz-inspired musical Wicked, which grossed $2.2 million over eight shows in 2011.
First impressions are often deceiving, and that’s the case with Spider-Man. The production, which is reportedly the priciest show in history with a projected cost of $70 million, was faced with a number of early hindrances, including serious injuries to cast members, economic problems and poor reviews.
In March of last year, the production’s original director Julie Taymor was let go after the musical garnered tremendously negative reviews from critics and had to shut down for three weeks. New director Philip William McKinley stepped into the sphere and overhauled the show, revamping key parts and having U2 and the Edge rewrite some numbers. Since then, the show has evolved into a blockbuster Broadway hit. When the production re-opened in June, it received an extremely positive response from critics and theatergoers alike. Now, it looks as if nothing can top Spider-Man.

MAIDEN TRIP TO OKNRAIL TRAIN CLUB MEETING

2012-01-10T11:24:00.002-05:00

my husband and myself are members of a local train club: OkNrail. (www.Oknrail.org). and it was that time of the year for elections.

i had thrown my personal hat in, to be the secretary, as bruce asked me to do so, because another members handwriting was barely legible (he said, i never saw it, so i cant say for sure).
and i said id only run for this position if another person would run against the shoe-in for the new presidency.
i had even emailed his nomination for election in.

one problem.

craigs job has him get off a bit too late, and when he hits the house by the time we end up at the meeting, were late. so people were asking the then former president how i could be the secretary if i wasnt going to be there on time.

well, as fortune would have it, OR you could call it a blessing, thats what im gonna call it. we fixed the van up, and timing has a weird way of making sure its an important thing to know...it was fixed just in time for me to make the 1st meeting for these all-important elections.

another problem, i had never drivien to the meeting place alone before.

so, i had to have a maiden run, so id know my way there, and i had to be driving it so id know where to be looking for landmarks.
its different when your the driver than when your the passenger.

so, we took my maiden trip the day before the meeting. these are some pics. ENJOY!
MICHELLE

pulling out of the driveway.

success! :)

as a side note, i won the secretary election! it was a split tie between me and Bobbie Becker. we had a re-vote (secretly, i was hoping hed get it) my cast for president turned the position down, left me with no one to vote for, so i felt boxed in for the position. and i had hoped Robbie would win.
but as it would happen, *I* won it...on the second vote.

and i think, if im not mistaken, and i may be...i may be the 1st female to have any sort of position on the board.

eh. it is what it is.

MICHELLE

NEWS - EARTHQUAKE REGISTERED IN OKLAHOMA COUNTY

2012-01-08T13:50:00.000-05:00

Earthquake registered in Oklahoma County

The quake was centered about 3 miles northeast of Choctaw, 3 miles southeast of Jones and 5 miles east of Nicoma Park in Oklahoma County.

From Staff Reports

Published: January 8, 2012

An earthquake in Central Oklahoma that registered 2.7 magnitude was measured Sunday evening, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.
The quake was centered about 3 miles northeast of Choctaw, 3 miles southeast of Jones and 5 miles east of Nicoma Park in Oklahoma County.
There were no immediate reports of damage.
For more information about earthquakes, go to neic.usgs.gov

HOME DECOR -NEW (Used) COUCH

2012-01-08T11:14:00.000-05:00

craig works with a guy who was consolidating his home with his new wifes family and they had double of everything, it seemed.

the offfer came up for us to go and get a couch, (or both, actually) if we wanted them.

of course, the 1st priority was to make sure wed have room for this new (used) couch.
so we spent all day on a saturday rearranging the furniture in both the garage and the living room to get the one couch out, we had gotten for free at Daniels Boy Scout Garage sale a couple of years earlier, to get this new couch in.

so, all day was spent all day saturay making room for the new couch, and then sunday we went and got it.

i didnt take a pic when it was at the original house, i forgot to, but i did take a pic of it before it went in the garage.

yeah...nice couch. :)

and here it is in its new spot in the house.

wall looks kinda empty now, i need to put some family pics, or some nice phrase up there. :)

MICHELLE

NEWS - 2 SMALL EARTHQUAKES RECORDED IN OKLAHOMA

2012-01-06T04:19:00.002-05:00

2 small earthquakes recorded in Oklahoma by USGS

PRAGUE — Two small earthquakes have been recorded in Oklahoma by the U.S. Geological Survey.
No injuries or damage are reported.

BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published: January 6, 2012

PRAGUE — Two small earthquakes have been recorded in Oklahoma by the U.S. Geological Survey.
No injuries or damage are reported.
The U.S.G.S. says a 2.8 magnitude quake was recorded at 10:02 p.m. Thursday near Prague — about 43 miles east of Oklahoma City. It followed a 1.9 magnitude quake that was recorded Thursday morning about 6 miles east of Oklahoma City.
Geologists say earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 to 3.0 are generally the smallest that are felt by humans.

ARTICLE - U2s EFFORTLESS ALBUMS

2012-01-05T18:44:00.000-05:00

U2's effortless albums

Jan 5, 2012, 02.02PM IST

U2 make their records in a way so that they sound "like they didn't try too hard".
The 'Vertigo' band work meticulously in the studio, but always aim for their albums to sound effortless and full of energy, according to long time producer, Steve Lillywhite.
He told theartsdesk.com: "They've been able to afford themselves a style of making music that is unique. They go off on tangents, they try everything, and good luck to them - it doesn't matter to me how long it takes to make a record, as long as it doesn't sound like it took that long. It has to sound like they didn't try too hard.
"This is what makes them such a great band: for them 'good' is about the worst thing you could ever say. When they have a new record coming out it has to have that wow factor."
Steve has worked with the group - singer Bono, guitarist The Edge, drummer Adam Clayton and bassist Larry Mullen Jr. - on a number of their albums, including 2004's, 'How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb', and explained how lead single, 'Vertigo', took shape.
He added: "Basically, the moment he started singing the song with the band, Bono projected himself a year into the future, on a stage at Madison Square Garden, and he suddenly realised he couldn't sing it with the passion he really wanted.
"So he decided to rewrite the words and melody. Bono had a rhythm for the chorus but he couldn't get the words, and he was trying and trying.

"Eventually, after changing the chorus, changing the words, the final version of 'Vertigo' just sort of leaked into life. It has become one of their top five songs. It's one of those songs that, if they're having the worst gig in the world, they know they can pull it out and get the crowd back."

NEWS - U2 CELEBRATE 'SPIDER-MAN ON BROADWAY' SUCESS

2012-01-05T18:42:00.001-05:00

irishtimes.com - Last Updated: Thursday, January 5, 2012, 09:34

U2 celebrate Spider-Man success

Rock giants U2 are celebrating the success of their Broadway record-breaking hit Spider-Man Turn Off The Dark which shattered Broadway box office and attendance records during the last week of 2011.
Bono and The Edge wrote the music and lyrics for the show, which was once branded the biggest flop on Broadway but took in $2,941,790 (€2.25m) over nine performances last week.
“For all the problems, there was magic on the stage," said Bono. "Things did get chaotic and messy after our producer Tony Adams died.
"But this week’s news has us all giddy again and we are raising our glasses to Tony, to our indefatigable cast, crew, creative- and production team.”

The show had had a turbulent start including injuries to actors, delays in opening night and poor reviews.
The Edge added: “It just goes to show that you can’t keep a good superhero down.
“This is a proud day for everyone who has been a part of this show. The Broadway public have voted with their feet.”
Spider-Man Turn Off The Dark has been seen by more than 700,000 audience members from around the world - including 17,375 people last week in The Foxwoods Theatre.
The previous record was held by Wicked , which grossed 2,228,235 dollars last January.

QUOTE: SKIING-Erma Bombeck

2012-01-05T09:05:00.002-05:00

Skiing?
========
Skiing? I do not participate in any sport with ambulances at the
bottom of the hill. ~Erma Bombeck~

OUT TO STARBUCKS WITH TAMARA SPENCER

2012-01-04T01:15:00.000-05:00

we made a trip out to the dollar store, and just across the parking lot was starbucks.
i have never been in one, all the years ive known about them. id say to craig we should go in, try some hot chocolate, or something. but we never did.

Tami was gonna surprise me.

when we were done, we were talking about starbucks because as we walked to the car with our items, we were looking at it, and she asked if i had ever been. i told her no. and we decided to go ahead and do it.
deverginize me in starbucks.
ill always have to admit, that tami was the one who delfowered me in there...lol

so there we were. in starbucks. and well, i had no clue what to get, i felt like i was in new york (i can imagine what thats like) and i was clueless. it was a good thing Tami had been before me, she held my hand (meteforically) and lead me to the alter of the Starbucks god, oh wait, he was the addendant..lol.

she ordered a CARAMEL APPLE CIDER>
heck, i dont know what i want, so i followed. its very rare im ever a follower, but when it comes to flavors im unfamiliar with, ill let someone else usually take the lead and ill follow.
so, i got what she got.

i got a large, she had the standard size.

and we sat, in the lush leather chairs, and watched people play games (yes they have games in those places) and other people reading the newspaper (didnt know that was still published) and other people taking the opprtunity to facebook about me (lol, i jest..lol) being a total NOOBIE in the place..LOL. no, they were busy doing whatever they were doing, facebooking the coffee flavor of the moment, tweeting the flavor, who knows, but there were a few peopl on laptops there.

i pulld out my camera and started to make sure i had a visual memory of the event. it may never happen again.
i can officially strike that off my bucket list of things to do. :)

we chatted mostly about starbucks and the flavor of the apple cider and how good it was. seriously, its that good, enough to make you chat about it for about 15 minutes..lol

Tami said we shpuld have our pictur taken in front of the sign before we left, so i obliged and took a shot,

then i decided we needed to be in front of the sign drinking our awesomeness...lol

MICHELLE

EARTHQUAKE

2012-01-03T08:34:00.002-05:00

Magnitude 3.2 - OKLAHOMA
2012 January 03 10:56:57 UTC

Earthquake Details

This event has been reviewed by a seismologist.

Magnitude 3.2
Date-Time

Tuesday, January 03, 2012 at 10:56:57 UTC
Tuesday, January 03, 2012 at 04:56:57 AM at epicenter
Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones

Location 35.550°N, 96.728°W
Depth 4.9 km (3.0 miles)
Region OKLAHOMA
Distances 30 km (18 miles) NE of Shawnee, Oklahoma
69 km (42 miles) SSE of Stillwater, Oklahoma
70 km (43 miles) W of Okmulgee, Oklahoma
72 km (44 miles) E of OKLAHOMA CITY, Oklahoma
Location Uncertainty horizontal +/- 6.5 km (4.0 miles); depth +/- 3 km (1.9 miles)
Parameters NST= 55, Nph= 85, Dmin=5.6 km, Rmss=0.72 sec, Gp= 22°,
M-type="Nuttli" surface wave magnitude (mbLg), Version=6
Source

Magnitude: USGS NEIC (WDCS-D)
Location: USGS NEIC (WDCS-D)

Event ID usc0007fu7

NEWS - THE PERFECT HOUSE FOR SURVIVNG A ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE IS UP FOR SALE

2012-01-02T23:35:00.000-05:00

The Perfect House For Surviving A Zombie Apocalypse Is For Sale

Culture Buzz Situated deep within the Adirondack State Park in Upstate New York, this cabin was built atop a cold-war era missile silo and is currently on the market for only $1.75 million dollars. It's basically perfect for surviving any sort of end of the world scenario.

The above-ground home is 2,000 square feet. But if you use the keypad entry to the basement, you’ll find 2,300 more square feet that was a former launch control center and has been converted with dining and entertainment space and two bedroom suites – complete with marble bathrooms. It has 10-foot tall ceilings, simulated daylight and an open floor plan.

NEWS - SQUIRREL MONKEY 'BANANA SAM' BACK AT SF ZOO

2012-01-02T07:40:00.000-05:00

Squirrel monkey Banana Sam back at SF Zoo

Jill Tucker, Chronicle Staff Writer

Monday, January 2, 2012

Banana-Sam was resting comfortably behind the scenes at the San Francisco Zoo on Sunday, with staffers keeping close tabs on the squirrel monkey after his weekend kidnapping ordeal.
The 17-year-old primate spent New Year's Day recuperating out of the public eye after a nearly 40-hour adventure that began with his abduction late Thursday or early Friday.
The 2-pound creature was shaking, hungry and cold when police returned him to the zoo Saturday evening, but he was relatively clean and with no obvious trauma, said Danny Latham, a zoo spokesman.
"We have no idea the conditions in which he was kept," he said.
Latham said it was unclear when Banana-Sam would return to his exhibit with his 17 squirrel monkey friends.
"We hope very, very soon," he said. "I'm sure people will want to come and see him."
Banana-Sam gained worldwide fame as his abduction spread around the globe. A Twitter account that someone opened in his name, @SF_BananaSam, had more than 2,000 followers, with posts detailing his alleged exploits throughout the city.
A trip to the monkey bars in Golden Gate Park was apparently disappointing.
"I was never cut out for life on the outside," read one post following his return. "3 hots and a cot for me!"
On Sunday, police continued to investigate the case. They said a visitor to Stern Grove in the Sunset District found the monkey and coaxed him into a backpack Saturday evening.
A $5,000 reward for the monkey's safe return had not yet been paid out, Latham said.
The kidnappers apparently knew where they were going and what they were doing. They climbed on a roof to cut through netting to nab Banana-Sam, making off with the animal despite guards and security cameras.
"Regardless of how many feet or eyes you have, if someone is willing to do something, they're going to find a way to do it," Latham said.
Still, the zoo has beefed up security on the graveyard shift since the incident.
"We're just happy that it turned out the way it did," Latham said. "It's a very happy story."

HOME DECOR - MY GRANDMOTHERS NICK NACK SHELF

2012-01-02T00:49:00.000-05:00

while craig and myself were rearranging the garage, to be able to pull in the new couch we were expecting to get, i happened to locate a prized possession of mine that used to belong to my grandmother.

i love the things i got to keep that were hers. and try very hard to keep them up, and make good use of them.

and this was a simple nick nack shlef i can remember being a part of my life since i was 5.

im sure it was in my life before that, but i dont have any memory of it until we moved to Virginia Beach Nerginia, and i can remember it was hanging on the landing of the stairs wall. i saw it every day. it had various porceline animal statues on it.

when my grandmother was thinking she was getting up in age, she asked all of her children and grands to place names on items they wanted. i wanted that. so i put my name on it.
i dont regret doing it. i cherish every item i got too keep.

so, it was a thrill to redisover this item. and see it was in very good condition.

immediately, i thought of what to use it for, how to use it, where to put it.
and i had one idea.
on the wall where the front door is.

i had just gotten some small nativities i could actually show case on this shelf.

so i had craig fashion it up for me.

then i had the joy of picking out items to place on it for decor.

so, it sits now, on the wall as you enter..with various nativities (mostly) on it.
i really like it, gives the wall a warm feeling.

MICHELLE

CROSSING OVER - A MountainWings Original

2012-01-01T06:57:00.001-05:00

Crossing Over
==============

What a time for my life to end now?

The doctor announced that my time in this world was rapidly coming to an end. I only had a short while left.

I was happy, I was comfortable, I was just getting to a point where I could really enjoy things, and now this happens!

I have so much stuff that I barely have room to put anything else. My home has become crowded, I truly have been blessed and now I am asked to give all of this up?

I have too much to live for.

I had it all. I was waited on hand and foot. My breakfast was brought to me in bed and even lunch and dinner if I wanted it. I had someone to clean up after me too. I was the most important person around, a real big shot, and now this.

I should have known it was too good to last. I had it too easy. Everything was too perfect. I had no money worries, no job worries, my relationship was perfect. No woman ever loved a man
as much as I was loved and now everything is changing.

Why?

Why can't things continue in perfect bliss?
Why can't God leave me alone and leave me happy?
Why do I have to endure pain and suffering?
Why do I have to die?

Why?

Pain is a good indicator that something is happening.
That's why I was at the doctor in the first place.

The pain.

If you heard the screams, you would understand why I was upset.
The screams told a story that no medical report could ever say.
The screams racked my entire body.
I shook all over just from the screaming.

Have you ever yelled to the top of your voice?
Yelled so loud your throat became sore?
Yelled so loud your ears still echoed with your strained and pained voice?

That's what the screaming was like.
I can't even put in words how upset and lost I felt.

Have you ever had anyone describe to you what it's like to leave this world? I don't mean just passing away in your sleep, but to leave in the middle of pain and suffering.

Do you have any idea?

I only had a short while left.

My lungs weren't working very well. They nearly weren't working at all. In these last stages they were filled with fluid. My digestive system wasn't able to process solid foods either.
I was on a purely liquid diet fed through a tube. My eyes were very sensitive to light and my house had to be kept rather dark.
Suddenly another scream racked my body.

I only had a short while left.

The doctor's head shook from side to side in answer to pleas for more painkilling drugs.

"We've done all we can for the pain," was the only answer.

I felt my time nearing as I struggled. I am a fighter, but there are some fights that you just can't win.
Sometimes what you are fighting against is just too strong.

I struggled anyway.
It was all I could do and I wasn't going without a fight.

I saw blood.

The doctors say this is a sure sign that you have only minutes left.

"So this is it," I thought.
I was too weak to fight it anymore.

I felt myself going down a long dark tunnel.
I saw a great bright white light at the other end.
I felt a strong force pulling me to the other side and a strong force pushing me out of this world.

What or who was waiting on the other end?

Faster than I thought possible, I was pulled through the tunnel.

I knew I had crossed over.

The light was overwhelming, a different kind of light.
Brighter by far than anything I had ever seen.

I looked back and there was a limp body on the bed that I couldn't even recognize. Was this the body that carried me through my old world?

I was in a different world, but was I dreaming, dead, or what?

I saw strange creatures like I had never seen.
They were big giants but I felt surrounded by love.
Somehow, I knew that these strange creatures meant me no harm.

I heard them speak in a language that I had only heard through muffled dreams,

I heard the words...

"Here is your new son Mr. Bronner, would you like to cut the umbilical cord?"

This is my speculation on what my son Christian thought as he was being born on New Year's Day, the birth of a new year.
Read about it here: http://www.mountainwings.com/past/2006.htm

This is a different perspective on the miracle of birth.
Read it again from the viewpoint of an unborn baby and you'll see a different meaning.

Birth is always painful and depending upon which side we are on, it can feel like we are dying, yet we are being born anew.
This is true for both natural and spiritual births.

We often go crying, kicking, and screaming into each new world,

both those going,

...and those left behind.

Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.
Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.'"

~A MountainWings Original~

NEW YEARS BREAKFAST

2012-01-01T01:48:00.002-05:00

morning weight: 263

craig and i went out for a breakfast on New years..
went to IHOP, because i wanted eggs and some meat like bacon, sausage, or the like.
i ended up with the lowest calorie egg omelet they offer (320 cals): Spinach/Mushroom/Tomato NO meat...
and water (blah!) to drink.
oh and a side of fresh fruit.
the grapes..OMG! i had forgotten how good they are! lol

youll note..my omlete has onions on it, NOT part of it, they just included them..they were pretty good...gave the omelet some flavor, i also used craigs salsa as my 'sauce'
if you look at the top of the pic, you can see craig had a colorado omelet (a whopping 1120 cals!)

yes, part of the new year is my concentration on what i put in my body, as well as exercise.

breakfast was very good, i was stuffed from my smaller omelet...but it did the trick.

MICHELLE

NEW YEARS EVE/NEW YEARS

2012-01-01T01:32:00.000-05:00

so, im of an age now where going out and seeing fireworks, and being among a bunch of people isnt the end all be all to the bane of my personal existance.
drinking was put to rest a LOOOONG time ago...parties along with it.

new years is the end of a long 2 months from october 31st (halloween) to january 1 (new years) filled with stress, and ALLOT of it.

i go into panic mode the second we finish halloween, because i know that im going to be ultra busy, and not really have any mental rest.
as we creep up to new years, i get to think about relaxing again.
and so it is..i WELCOME the new year!

so, one of the things i decided to do wasto not make any REAL resolutions, id set some small goals, work towards achieving them, and when i was done, make more...none of this business where i say im gonna lose weight, or whatever and then never get to that marker...

one of my 1st goals, was to change my hair color, which i did, and right at the new year, stpeepped out of the shower wearing my new red !

its nothing really new, i do this every year..just thought id show it. :)

this new years was pretty quiet in the neighborhood, normally we have a ton of fireworks going off all over, but this year it lasted fo about 5 minutes and it was done. to which i was very greatful for, because it allowed me to sleep better.

happy new year 2012...lets make this one better than the last!
MICHELLE

NEWS - U2s BONO BUSKING SESSION 'BROKEN UP BY POLICE' (Fundraising for the Homeless)

2011-12-31T13:15:00.000-05:00

Home > Music > News

Saturday, December 31, 2011

Music

U2 Bono busking session 'broken up by police'

Published Saturday, Dec 31 2011, 9:36am EST | By Daniel Sperling

Bono was left red-faced on Christmas Eve when his traditional busking session in Dublin was broken up by police.

The U2 singer was ordered to cease his unofficial fundraiser by a police officer who failed to recognize him, the Daily Star reports.

"Bono has done his festive busking for 20 years to raise money for the homeless, so he was surprised when the police tried to stop him," a source commented.

"Although he always dresses down for the tradition, it was strange the police failed to spot one of the nation's most iconic men. Bono found the funny side though and the issue was soon resolved."

An advert made by Bono's One Foundation was banned from UK TV in October for breaching guidelines on political content.

It was claimed the same month that U2 are "quite likely" to release a new album in 2012.

NEWS - SECURITY PATROLS AT SF ZOO DOUBLED AFTER THEFT OF MONKEY 'BANANA SAM'

2011-12-31T13:11:00.000-05:00

Security patrols at SF Zoo doubled after theft of monkey ‘Banana Sam’

By Associated Press, Updated: Saturday, December 31,

SAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco Zoo officials are stepping up security after a male squirrel monkey was stolen from an exhibit.
Two security guards were patrolling the 100-acre zoo on Thursday night when the monkey named Banana Sam was apparently taken.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports (http://bit.ly/rUqmH5) that security has been doubled this holiday weekend in case the thieves try to return.
The zoo’s remaining 17 squirrel monkeys are also now being kept indoors.
Banana Sam was taken after thieves cut through a back perimeter gate and then made two holes into the mesh surrounding the monkey exhibit. A $5,000 reward has been offered for the monkey’s safe return.
The zoo has had animal thefts before. Two teenagers were arrested 11 years ago on suspicion of stealing koalas to impress their girlfriends.

NEWS - WORST YEAR IN DECADES FOR ENDANGERED ELEPHANTS

2011-12-29T19:13:00.002-05:00

Worst year in decades for endangered elephants

JOHANNESBURG — It's been a disastrous year for elephants, perhaps the worst since ivory sales were banned in 1989 to save the world's largest land animals from extinction, the wildlife trade monitoring network TRAFFIC said Thursday.

By MICHELLE FAUL, AP Writer
December 29, 2011

JOHANNESBURG — It's been a disastrous year for elephants, perhaps the worst since ivory sales were banned in 1989 to save the world's largest land animals from extinction, the wildlife trade monitoring network TRAFFIC said Thursday.

A record number of large seizures of elephant tusks represents at least 2,500 dead animals and shows that organized crime — in particular Asian syndicates — is increasingly involved in the illegal ivory trade and the poaching that feeds it, the group said.

Some of the seized tusks came from old stockpiles, the elephants having been killed years ago. It's not clear how many elephants were recently killed in Africa for their tusks, but experts are alarmed.

TRAFFIC's elephant and rhino expert Tom Milliken thinks criminals may have the upper hand in the war to save rare and endangered animals.

“As most large-scale ivory seizures fail to result in any arrests, I fear the criminals are winning,” Milliken told The Associated Press.

Most cases involve ivory being smuggled from Africa into Asia, where growing wealth has fed the desire for ivory ornaments and for rhino horn that is used in traditional medicine, though scientists have proved it has no medicinal value.

“The escalation in ivory trade and elephant and rhino killing is being driven by the Asian syndicates that are now firmly enmeshed within African societies,” Milliken said in a telephone interview from his base in Zimbabwe. “There are more Asians than ever before in the history of the continent, and this is one of the repercussions.”

All statistics are not yet in, and no one can say how much ivory is getting through undetected, but “what is clear is the dramatic increase in the number of large-scale seizures, over 800 kilograms (1,760 pounds) in weight, that have taken place in 2011,” TRAFFIC said in a statement.

There were at least 13 large seizures this year, compared to six in 2010 with a total weight just under 1,000 kilograms (2,200 pounds).

In the most recent, and worst, case Malaysian authorities seized hundreds of African elephant tusks on Dec. 21 worth $1.3 million that were being shipped to Cambodia. The ivory was hidden in containers of handicrafts from Kenya's Mombasa port. Most large seizures have originated from Kenyan or Tanzanian ports, TRAFFIC said.

Fifty elephants a month are being killed, their tusks hacked off, in Tanzania's Selous Game Reserve, according to the Washington-based Environmental Investigation Agency.

With shipments so large, criminals have taken to shipping them by sea instead of by air, falsifying documents with the help of corrupt officials, monitors said.

Milliken said some of the seized ivory has been identified as coming from government-owned stockpiles — made up of confiscated tusks and those of dead elephants — in another sign of corruption.

“In 23 years of compiling ivory seizure data … this is the worst year ever for large ivory seizures. 2011 has truly been a horrible year for elephants,” said Milliken.

Rhinos also have suffered. A record 443 rhino were killed this year in South Africa, according to National Geographic News Watch.

That surpassed last year's figure of 333 dead rhino despite the government deploying soldiers to protect them this year in its flagship Kruger National Park. There, 244 of the rhino were killed in 2011, National Geographic reported this week. That figure is expected to rise before the end of the year. Kruger has more than 10,000 white rhinos and about 500 black rhinos. South Africa is home to 90 percent of the rhinos left on the continent.

Africa's elephant population was estimated at between 5 million and 10 million before the big white hunters came to the continent with European colonization. Massive poaching for the ivory trade in the 1980s halved the remaining number of African elephants to about 600,000.

Following the 1989 ban on ivory trade and concerted international efforts to protect the animals, elephant herds in east and southern Africa were thriving before the new threat arrived from Asia.

A report from Kenya's Amboseli National Park highlighted the dangers. There had been almost no poaching in the park, which lies in the shadow of Mount Kilimanjaro, for 30 years until a Chinese company was awarded the contract to build a highway nearby two years ago. Amboseli has lost at least four of its “big tuskers” since then.

Read more: http://newsok.com/worst-year-in-decades-for-endangered-elephants/article/3635848#ixzz1hyL3IMdE

NEWS-GORILLAS MISTAKE AMERICAN TOURIST FOR ONE OF THEIR OWN! (WITH VIDEO!)

2011-12-27T18:43:00.000-05:00

Gorillas mistake American tourist for one of their own

Check out this amazing video. An American tourist, identified only as "John," was on a gorilla-watching tour in Uganda's Bwindi Inpenetrable National Park earlier this month, when an adult female and her babies wandered into the Sanctuary Gorilla Forest Camp where he was staying.
The gorillas appear to be grooming him, as a fellow tourist videotapes the encounter.
"The silverback is just behind you. He's sitting a meter behind you and [there are] three babies squashed between him and you. The female's just behind you to your right," the friend is heard saying. "Tell me what you're feeling now, John."
"I just feel like one of the gang," John says.
After several minutes, the troupe moves on.
Park rangers say encounters such as this are rare.

ARTICLE - AN UNFORGETTABEL EXPERIENCE: SEEKING OUT RWANDAS MOUNTAIN GORILLAS

2011-12-27T18:14:00.002-05:00

An unforgettable experience: seeking out Rwanda's mountain gorillas

By Berit Waschatz Dec 27, 2011, 3:06 GMT

Kinigi, Rwanda - More than 15 years have passed since the genocide in Rwanda. But the East African country is once again safe to visit, and even a side-excursion to the former conflict-ridden border region near the Virunga volcano is possible. And it is well worth it: There, the last mountain gorillas are still to be found, though threatened by civil conflicts and poaching. The region gained international attention through the 1988 film 'Gorillas in the Mist' which documented the life and work of primate researcher Dian Fossey. The American came to Rwanda at the end of the 1960s in order to carry out research on the primates and to help protect them. It is thanks to Fossey that to this day mountain gorillas still inhabit the bamboo forests of the Virunga volcano. A visit here is a once-in-a-lifetime experience which nobody who is travelling through Rwanda should miss - even though it costs 500 dollars per person. The money is well-spent for it goes towards helping to protect the apes.There are only eight groups of gorillas which have become used to human beings. In order not to disturb the animals too greatly, only eight hikers may approach one such group per day. So it is advisable to plan in advance in order to make reservations and organize a visit. The best period for tours is during the dry season between May and October. During the high season of July through September, it may be particularly difficult to obtain a permit on short notice. A visit to the mountain gorillas is no simple stroll. The creatures live at an altitude of 2,500 metres. The trek starts at seven in the morning, for it is before noon that the gorillas are particularly active and easy to observe. The meeting point for a tour is the central tourism office in Kinigi, some 120 kilometres north-west of the capital Kigali. Tourists from around the world can be seen milling around in excited expectation. On the horizon, the peaks of the volcanoes gradually pierce the milky-white mists hovering above the valleys. The rangers observe their clients quietly and then start to organize them in groups. Those who want to see the Susa group of gorillas must be prepared for a strenuous hike. The trail to the Amahoro group is somewhat less difficult. Once the visitors have been assigned to their groups, the lead ranger gives a brief account about each of the gorilla groups, and also advises people on how to behave. For example, a person who has come close to a gorilla should sneeze or cough into the crook of his arm - to help prevent infecting the gorillas with a human illness. A virus which is of no danger at all to a human can be fatal for a gorilla. A person who is feeling ill is best advised to remain back at the hotel and in such cases their money is returned. The trail to the Amohoro group starts out by jeep travelling through broad expanses of meadows. Rwandan women can be seen early in the morning, working the soil with their hoes. Some are carrying their children on their backs, while others let their kids romp around in the fields.Behind the meadowlands begins the National Park. The rangers hand out thick walking sticks and the ascent begins. The firm hiking shoes, long pants and long-sleeved T-shirts now are welcome protection, as the group works its way through thickets of poison ivy-like plants, roots and branches. Now the group is told to be quiet and lay down their backpacks and hiking sticks. For the gorillas, in a rare occurrence, are standing directly next to the trail. The surface is overgrown with ferns and is accordingly slippery. The rangers must repeatedly use their machetes to hack a way through the vegetation for the group. And suddenly, a gorilla is there standing in front of you and its shyness seems to have been wiped away. The hikers sit down on the ground to observe and admire the threatened animals. The rangers permit the visitors to approach the gorillas to within 5 metres. But since the gorillas don't know this rule, it might happen that one of them will come closer to the humans, or that even a baby gorilla will suddenly clasp onto the leg of a visitor. In this event, the ranger says one must remain calm and follow his instructions. The visitors have one hour to watch the apes as they eat, play and cuddle together. These are moments one will scarcely ever forget. The gorillas are astoundingly similar to humans. But then the moment comes to leave again and return to the trail leading them back. Intoxicated by their experience, the hikers regard the trail as a lot less strenuous than before. And a final reward awaits them, when, returning to the jeeps, they are handed a certificate documenting the visit.

NEWS - CHEETAH THE CHIMP DIES OF KIDNEY DISEASE

2011-12-27T18:13:00.000-05:00

Cheetah the Chimp Dies of Kidney Disease

The chimp, who starred in the 1932-34 Tarzan movies with Johnny Weissmuller, was one of the most popular residents at Palm Harbor's Suncoast Primate Sanctuary.

By Sunde Farquhar
Cheetah-Mike, a well loved chimp who was one of the main attractions at Palm Harbor's Suncoast Primate Sanctuary died from kidney failure Dec. 24. Cheetah-Mike was in his 80s.
The Suncoast Primate Sanctuary made the announcement about Cheetah's death on the organization's Facebook page Tuesday afternoon:
"It is with great sadness that the community has lost a dear friend and family member on December 24, 2011. Cheetah, star of the Tarzan films, passed away after kidney failure during the week of December 19, 2011. The Sanctuary's residents and volunteers would like to thank all of the community members for their continued support as the Sanctuary continues to expand on the legacy and foundation Cheetah continues to oversee as he watches over his supporters, friends, and family."
Shortly after the announcement was made, Cheetah's fans began to leave their condolences on the Suncoast Primate Sanctuary Facebook page.
Judy Eddy wrote, "so sorry for the loss of another one of Gods creatures He will be missed I vist often with my grand daughter Jordyn"
Adria Bernstein says, "My heart goes out to you and all of those whose lives he touched! May he be at peace and full of love, up above :)"
Amelia Bigler Miller wrote, "R.I.P. Cheetah, so glad that I got to see you a couple of times, such a great primate he was and so entertaining."
From Danielle Kuehner, "R.I.P big boy. i love you"
Jodi Welling Austin wrote, "I'll never forgetting hearing him from the other side of the farm playing basketball. He could dribble a mean ball. So glad I just saw Cheetah recently, as did my daughter for the first time. RIP and hugs to Debby."
Elena Louvros wrote, "Oh my heart breaks a little each time an animal passes away. Honored that I was able to see Cheetah several times over the years....even back in the day of the 'Chimp Farm' years...Thank you, Sanctuary, for letting this sweet boy live out his years under your compassionate care."
Cheetah wrote about his life at the Suncoast Primate Sanctuary in his blog on Palm Harbor Patch. You can read Cheetah's blogs here:
Cheetah the Blogging Chimp
SPS Cribs (aka: Suncoast Primate Sanctuary Cribs)
Keeping up with the Caregivers
Extreme Makeover: Sanctuary Edition
Blogging Chimp's Latest Work: No Ordinary Troop

The Suncoast Primate Sanctuary Foundation of Palm Harbor is a nonprofit organization run by volunteers. The sanctuary cares for primates and other animals from a variety of backgrounds: some were rescued from abusive situations or were circus performers, and others were pets who could no longer be cared for by their owners.

NEWS - SMALL EARTHQUAKE REPORTED IN CENTRAL OKLAHOMA ON CHRISTMAS MORNING

2011-12-25T22:05:00.001-05:00

Small earthquake reported in Central Oklahoma on Christmas morning

The quake occurred at 8:10 a.m. and was centered in Okfuskee County, about 8 miles southeast of Paden and 7 miles southwest of Boley.

From Staff Reports

Published: December 25, 2011

A 3.3 magnitude earthquake rumbled Central Oklahoma on Christmas Day, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.
The quake occurred at 8:10 a.m. and was centered in Okfuskee County, about 8 miles southeast of Paden and 7 miles southwest of Boley.
There were no immediate reports of damage.
For more information about earthquakes, go to http://neic.usgs.gov/.

NEWS -HARRISON FORD/ ABIGAIL BRESLIN JOIN 'ENDERES GAME' MOVIE

2011-12-21T12:28:00.000-05:00

Harrison Ford, Abigail Breslin Join 'Ender's Game'

By ROBERT PACE

December 21, 2011

Harrison Ford and Little Miss Sunshine actress Abigail Breslin have been added to the cast of Ender's Game, according to The Wrap.

The movie, which is set for release in 2013, is based on Orson Scott Card's 1985 science-fiction novel about a war between aliens and humankind that is set in the future.

Ford will play Colonel Hyrum Graff, the head of the Battle School that Ender attends. Hugo star Asa Butterfield will play "Ender" Wiggin, who is called upon by Col. Graff to save humankind from an alien invasion. Breslin's role in the sci-fi film has yet to be confirmed but she will most likely play Valentine, Ender's older sister.

NEWS - CHIMPANZEE RESEARCH IN TEXAS COULD FACE CHANGES

2011-12-19T18:32:00.001-05:00

Chimpanzee research in Texas could face changes

December 19, 2011 9:17 AM ET

By DON FINLEY

SAN ANTONIO (AP) - At the chimpanzee playground, scattered with primary-colored concrete platforms and truck tires and ropes to climb, a graying chimp lies on his back, legs crossed, as if to study the heavens. But it's the human visitors his eyes follow.
"Each one of these animals has a personality," said Dr. Melissa de la Garza, the veterinarian in charge of the day-to-day care of the 149 chimps at the Texas Biomedical Research Institute. "Not all animals look for human interaction. The chimpanzee does."
It's a complicated relationship. Chimps and people are so similar physically, genetically and — to listen to their caretakers — even in personality, that de la Garza often brings in local physician specialists, rather than vets, to treat them. In the winter, the humans take care not to pass their colds and flu to the chimps.
For that very reason, chimps have been prized by scientists for their usefulness in certain kinds of scientific research in which similarity to people is critical. And for almost 50 years, chimpanzees have been studied at the San Antonio facility.
"They've contributed greatly to our understanding disease processes, including AIDS in the early years," said Dr. John VandeBerg, scientific director of Texas Biomed. "We were the first to infect a chimpanzee with HIV. Our work was critical to the development of the hepatitis B vaccine with chimpanzees. We were involved in the development of the hepatitis A vaccine with chimpanzees."
That contribution is evolving.
Last Thursday, the director of the National Institutes of Health promised stricter rules governing the use of chimps in research, based on new recommendations by an expert committee of the Institute of Medicine.
How much current research the new rules would prohibit depends on whom you ask. The committee that wrote the recommendations said they would preclude all but a small number. The head of the NIH predicted half. And VandeBerg, perhaps hopefully, believes they will impact local research little or none, depending on how they are interpreted.
The recommendations were developed in the wake of a controversy in the middle of which VandeBerg and Texas BioMed found themselves.
Last year, hoping to save $2 million, the NIH announced plans to move 186 chimps it owns from an Alamogordo, N.M., facility no longer doing research to San Antonio, where they could be enrolled in new studies.
That brought a long-simmering debate to a furious boil. The plan drew opponents ranging from actor Gene Hackman to former N.M. Gov. Bill Richardson, and breathed new life into efforts by the Humane Society of the United States to remove all chimps from research labs.
"I think we were a significant force in encouraging this review when the Alamogordo chimps were going to move to your neck of the woods," Humane Society President Wayne Pacelle. said. "One outcome of that was that NIH called for this IOM report."
But that was only one part of what VandeBerg describes as "a three-front war, basically."
The Humane Society also petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to declare captive chimpanzees as endangered. A similar petition almost 25 years ago led to endangered status for wild chimps, but the government opted to list captive chimps only as threatened — mainly because of their value to researchers.
The group also is lobbying hard for the Great Ape Protection and Cost Savings Act, which has more than 130 sponsors in the U.S. House and would make illegal nearly all research with chimps.
"We treat chimpanzees with a special respect and reverence because they are more similar to humans than any other animal," VandeBerg said. "And we're proud of the conditions in which they live here. But I think it's our moral and ethical responsibility to do this research with chimpanzees, in order to develop as quickly as possible the capacity to save millions of human lives."
Sabrina Bourgeois swears she knew at age 5 she wanted to work with chimpanzees. On visits to the zoo, her parents would leave her to watch the chimps while the rest of the family went to gaze at the hippos and giraffes.
Today, the 31-year-old behavioral specialist and trainer is part of a six-person team in charge of the chimps' psychological and emotional needs.
She knows their names, celebrates their birthdays and knows what DVDs they like to watch ("The Jungle Book" is high on the list) when the maintenance crews shoo them off the playground.
"They can be very mischievous and they can be stubborn," Bourgeois said. "Some love to play. And they'll do all sorts of things, similar to children, to enlist you to play."
One of her main jobs is making their involvement in research studies less stressful. Although chimps aren't subjected to the kinds of invasive studies the baboons and monkeys sometimes are — those can involve surgery and euthanasia — chimps often are injected with sedatives and experimental drugs. In hepatitis studies, they undergo needle liver biopsies, in which tissue is removed using a syringe.
Not that the studies are always benign. A few have died from testing the safety of promising but volatile monoclonal antibodies, a type of therapy that tinkers with the immune system in sometimes unexpected ways, VandeBerg said.
Bourgeois trains the chimps to present an arm or leg voluntarily for injection. That training is a long and continuous process, with plenty of praise and rewards — Hawaiian Punch and Dora the Explorer yogurt in particular.
There's a bond that forms between the staff and chimps, she said, and it's based on their intelligence and humanlike emotions. But despite that bond, she's a supporter of the research done here — and not just because of the paycheck, she said.
"I had a close friend and mentor who had hepatitis C," Bourgeois said. "He was 44 years old and came to see me two months before he passed away. He went through a year of trying experimental treatments for hepatitis C that made him so sick he was down to 100 pounds. He was suffering, and he opted not to go through them anymore.
"Unfortunately, there is at this time no effective treatment for hepatitis C, and I don't imagine we will have one without these chimpanzees."
Opponents, of course, have a different view. Like the IOM committee, they believe most chimp research today is unnecessary, with alternatives available.
"These are a highly endangered species, and society places a special value on animals who are so rare," the Humane Society's Pacelle said. "Related to that is that these animals are so highly intelligent and social that confining them in laboratory setting brings with it a major moral cost."
In addition, Pacelle said, they're so expensive to maintain — estimates range from $300,000 to more than $600,000 over the lifetime of each chimp — that those tax dollars could be put to better uses, especially given the fact the animals are used in so few studies.
Dr. Francis Collins, director of the NIH, said in announcing the new guidelines that there are no savings to be had in moving chimps from labs to sanctuaries. Under federal law, taxpayers must support retired research chimps throughout their lives, and the cost is about the same in either setting.
Four studies involving nine chimps are under way at Texas Biomed. Two are testing new therapies for safety before they're tried in people. And two are looking at the underlying mechanisms of hepatitis C and E.
Robert Lanford, an expert in hepatitis at Texas Biomed, was one of a number of scientists who argued before the IOM committee that science isn't quite ready to relinquish chimpanzees.
"My opinion is, we need somewhere between three to five more years of the kind of immunological studies in chimpanzees that are infected with hepatitis C — meaning infecting an animal and monitoring it from the time of infection, and understanding its outcome," Lanford said.
VandeBerg said he believes Collins has a broader interpretation of the guidelines than the IOM committee that developed them. While the committee estimated very few studies would qualify under the criteria in the guidelines, Collins estimated half would. And a second committee he's organizing to evaluate which studies to continue is likely to include experts in such research, which the IOM committee lacked, VandeBerg said.
"I don't believe that the impact on our research will be great," he said.
In the past year, VandeBerg has emerged as perhaps the leading defender of chimps in science. The federal government supports eight national primate research centers. Of those, only two — including the Southwest National Primate Center at Texas Biomed — use chimps in research. The other, the Yerkes primate center at Emory University in Atlanta, uses them only in behavioral studies.
"Ironically, I've never used chimpanzees for my own research," VandeBerg, a geneticist, said a few days before the IOM report was released.
"I'm arguing the case as a national primate research center director who has seen over these decades the research that's been done with chimpanzees and the value of it to human life. I've seen how well these chimpanzees are taken

THE 'W' IN CHRISTMAS

2011-12-19T10:49:00.000-05:00

Makes you pause and think!

The "W" in Christmas
Each December, I vowed to make Christmas a calm and peaceful experience.

I had cut back on nonessential obligations - extensive card writing, endless baking, decorating, and even overspending.

Yet still, I found myself exhausted, unable to appreciate the precious family moments, and of course, the true meaning of Christmas.

My son, Nicholas, was in kindergarten that year. It was an exciting season for a six year old.

For weeks, he'd been memorizing songs for his school's "Winter Pageant."

I didn't have the heart to tell him I'd be working the night of the production.

Unwilling to miss his shining moment, I spoke with his teacher. She assured me there'd be a dress rehearsal the morning of the presentation.

All parents unable to attend that evening were welcome to come then.

Fortunately, Nicholas seemed happy with the compromise.

So, the morning of the dress rehearsal, I filed in ten minutes early, found a spot on the cafeteria floor and sat down. Around the room, I saw several other parents quietly scampering to their seats.

As I waited, the students were led into the room. Each class, accompanied by their teacher, sat cross-legon the floor. Then, each group, one by one, rose to perform their song.

Because the public school system had long stopped referring to the holiday as "Christmas," I didn't expect anything other than fun, commercial entertainment songs of reindeer, Santa Claus, snowflakes and good cheer.

So, when my son's class rose to sing, "Christmas Love," I was slightly taken aback by its bold title.

Nicholas was aglow, as were all of his classmates, adorned in fuzzy mittens, red sweaters, and bright snowcaps upon their heads.

Those in the front row- center stage - held up large letters, one by one, to spell out the title of the song.

As the class would sing "C is for Christmas," a child would hold up the letter C. Then, "H is for Happy," and on and on, until each child holding up his portion had presented the complete message, "Christmas Love."

The performance was going smoothly, until suddenly, we noticed her; a small, quiet, girl in the front row holding the letter "M" upside down - totally unaware her letter "M" appeared as a "W".

The audience of 1st through 6th graders snickered at this little one's mistake. But she had no idea they were laughing at her, so she stood tall, proudly holding her "W".

Although many teachers tried to shush the children, the laughter continued until the last letter was raised, and we all saw it together.

A hush came over the audience and eyes began to widen.

In that instant, we understood the reason we were there, why we celebrated the holiday in the first place, why even in the chaos, there was a purpose for our festivities.

For when the last letter was held high, the message read loud and clear:

"C H R I S T W A S L O V E"

And, I believe, He still is.

Amazed in His presence... .humbled by His love.

Again, HAVE A BLESSED CHRISTMAS SEASON!

MOUNTAIN WINGS MOMENT -GODS WINGS

2011-12-19T10:43:00.000-05:00

God's Wings
============

An article in National Geographic several years ago provided an interesting picture of God's wings.

After a forest fire in Yellowstone National Park, forest rangers began their trek up a mountain to assess the inferno's damage.

One ranger found a bird literally petrified in ashes, perched statuesquely on the ground at the base of a tree. Somewhat sickened by the eerie sight, he knocked over the bird with a stick.

When he gently struck it, three tiny chicks scurried from under their dead mother's wings. The loving mother, keenly aware of impending disaster, had carried her offspring to the base of the tree and had gathered them under her wings, instinctively knowing that the toxic smoke would rise. She could have flown to safety but had refused to abandon her babies.

When the blaze had arrived and the heat had scorched her small body, the mother had remained steadfast.

Because she had been willing to die, those under the cover of her wings would live.

Being loved this much should make a difference in your life.

Remember the One who loves you,

...and then be different because of it.

"He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge." (Psalm 91:4)

HUMOR - WHAT NOT TO SY WHEN HANGING THE CHRISTMAS LIGHTS

2011-12-16T09:04:00.000-05:00

Things Not To Say When Hanging The Lights

Did you know that hanging lights on a Christmas tree is one of the three most stressful situations in an on-going relationship? The other two danger zones are teaching your mate to drive and wallpapering.
We rush to print with an emergency prompt list of Things Not To Say When Hanging Lights on the Christmas Tree.
--"You've got two red lights right next to each other, goober. You're supposed to go yellow, green, red, blue, not yellow, red, red, green, blue..."
--"Up a little higher. You can reach it. Go on, try."
--"What on earth do you do to these lights when you put them away every year? Tie them in knots?"
--"Come away from that aluminum ladder, kids. I'm going to fry that sucker."
--"If you're not going to do it right, don't do it at all. Don't just throw them on, like you do the icicles. You're worse than your father."
--"Give me that."
--"You've got the whole thing on the tree upside-down. The electric pluggee thing should be down here at the bottom, not up at the top."
--"I don't care if you have found another two strings, I'm done!."
--"You've just wound 'em around and around - I thought we agreed it shouldn't look like a spiral this year?"
--"Have you been drinking?"
--"Where's the cat?"

NEWS -FEDS LIMIT USE OF CHIMP IN MEDICAL RESEARCH

2011-12-15T18:26:00.000-05:00

Feds limit use of chimps in medical research

TRACY CONNOR

Thursday, December 15, 2011

The feds say they’re going to save the chimps — by banning most experimentation on the closest thing to a human in the animal world.
The National Institutes of Health policy unveiled Thursday comes in response to a panel’s finding that using the primates for research is usually unnecessary.
Because chimpanzees have genetic similarities to people and show a high level of intelligence, scientists have long prized them as subjects in biomedical research.
But NIH Director Francis Collins said it’s the animals’ close relationship to humans that “demands special consideration and respect.”

NEWS - ELEPHANT ARRIVES AT OKLAHOMA CITY ZOO, BRINGING HERD TO A TOTAL OF 4

2011-12-14T09:31:00.000-05:00

Elephant arrives at Oklahoma City Zoo, bringing herd total to four

The Oklahoma City Zoo received a male elephant Tuesday afternoon. An Asian elephant named Rex was transported from African Lion Safari in Cambridge, Ontario. He will breed with both adult female elephants in Oklahoma City in the coming years.

BY CARRIE COPPERNOLL

Published: December 14, 2011

The Oklahoma City Zoo received a fourth elephant for its herd Tuesday afternoon.
A male Asian elephant named Rex arrived about noon Tuesday after a 20-hour, 1,300-mile trip from Cambridge, Ontario.
It was a proud moment for the zoo and the community, Oklahoma City Zoo Executive Director Dwight Scott said.
“We've made a real commitment to elephant conservation and breeding,” he said. “These are magnificent, beautiful and intelligent animals. They need to be preserved.”
Rex will spend 30 days in quarantine and out of the public eye, Scott said.
He won't interact with the other elephants, and any time he spends outside will likely be during the early morning hours before zoo guests arrive.
The addition of Rex to the Asian elephant herd is the second new elephant this year. A calf, Malee, was born April 15.
Rex was brought to the Oklahoma City Zoo to breed with the two female elephants, Asha and Chandra. Chandra could mate with Rex as soon as this spring.
Asha, however, will not breed until Malee is weaned, which will be about another year.
The process of adding a male elephant has been a long time coming, Scott said.
“This is a critical step in our breeding program,” Scott said. “We've been working for years to pull all of this together.”
Oklahoma City Zoo officials visited the Canadian zoo last fall and then requested Rex come to Oklahoma. The move was approved by a consortium of elephant experts, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service granted a permit for the elephant's move in August. The final permits for the border crossing were approved this month.
Calm, comfortable
Only essential zoo staff members were on hand to help unload Rex, Mammal Curator Laura Bottaro said. The animal was calm and comfortable when he got off the trailer and walked into the elephant barn, she said.
“It all happened in about 10 minutes,” Bottaro said.
Asha and Chandra spent most of the day in the far side of their habitat, away from the barn and moving trailer, Bottaro said.
Malee was curious and spent her time trying to catch a glimpse of what was happening.
After the quarantine is over, the elephants will be allowed to touch trunks and meet one another.
Eventually, they could spend time in the same yard.
“We're looking forward to letting him mix with the girls,” Bottaro said.

NEWS - TOURISM THREATENS TINY PHILIPPINE PRIMATE

2011-12-11T18:28:00.000-05:00

Tourism threatens tiny Philippine primate
By Joe Sinclair (AFP) – Dec 11, 2011

BOHOL, Philippines — The tiny creature turns its head slowly through 180 degrees and stares, boggle-eyed as another group of noisy tourists takes its picture from just inches away.
This is the Philippine tarsier, one of the smallest primates in the world. It is a remarkable animal, just 10 centimetres (four inches) tall, weighing 120 grams (four ounces), with a rat-like tail, bat-like ears, and giant eyeballs, each one as big as its brain.
Its strange appearance is obvious, but what these tourists may not realise is that their very presence is putting the animal at risk.
The tarsier is nocturnal, lives in the forest, and is highly sensitive to daylight, noise and human contact.
According to conservationists, if it becomes stressed it will kill itself by bashing its head against a tree or the bars of its cage.
"People go near and they're loud, or make a picture with the flash, or they're touching them. Most of those tarsiers, when they become stressed they commit suicide," says Carlito Pizarras, known as The Tarsier Man.
"They don't breathe and slowly die. If you put them in a cage they want to go out. That's why they bump their heads on the cage, and it will crack because the cranium is so thin."
Pizarras is the field manager at the Philippine Tarsier and Wildlife Sanctuary in Corella on the island of Bohol, one of the country's most popular tourist destinations.
Unlike other tarsier attractions on the island, visitors at the sanctuary are allowed to look, but not to get too close, and definitely not to touch.
Different species of tarsier are found in the Philippines, Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia. And populations in all these countries are listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as "decreasing".
The Philippine tarsier, or tarsius syrichta, is categorised as "near threatened", while species in other countries are already "vulnerable", "endangered" and "critically endangered".
As a child Pizarras would hunt tarsiers with his father, a taxidermist. The stuffed creatures were best sellers, fetching 250 pesos ($6) a time.
Aged 12, he decided to start keeping the animals in captivity, venturing into the forests at night to collect crickets for them to eat and learn about their habits in the wild. He realised how sensitive they were to human contact.
By the time he reached his 20s the tarsiers living around his village were becoming scarce. Hunting, habitat destruction and predatory house cats were causing numbers to dwindle.
Pizarras knew he was also partly to blame, so he stopped hunting them and became a pioneer of conservation.
The tarsier became Bohol's logo, and a big tourist draw. And the Tarsier Man, once derided for his strange behaviour, became a national treasure, even presenting a pair of the animals to Britain's Prince Charles in 1997.
But Pizarras, now in his 50s, believes not enough is being done to protect the creature. It may be a tourist symbol, but more should be done to make it a symbol of conservation.
"In other areas they are still putting tarsiers in cages for the tourists," he says. "I don't know why but the government gives them permits."
At one of these attractions, a guide calls to a group of tourists and points to a tarsier clinging to a tree branch.
"Now there you are, I think you are hiding," he says in a loud sing-song voice, before encouraging the group to move closer and take a picture.
A sign warns visitors not to use their camera flash, and the guide tells them not to touch.
But the tarsiers here live in a thinly forested area, with light seeping through. Their ultra-sensitive eyes are murky, and their movements slow. At this time of day they should be asleep.
"Before we put them in our hands," the guide says. "But if you touch, they die. They are so very sensitive."
These ones have been "domesticated" using cages, he adds, and now they are "tame".
"Try to go closer," the guide says. "They won't bite."
Pizarras argues that tarsiers in the wild are very defensive and do bite -- and that these docile animals are not tame but weak.
"The tarsier is a superstar but unfortunately it's suffering because of its fame," says Joannie Mary Cabillo, the programme manager at the Tarsier and Wildlife Sanctuary.
"The government is backing up but not that much. We have a presidential proclamation and laws to protect the tarsiers but unfortunately nobody is sanctioned."
The government declared the tarsier a "specially protected" species in 1997, outlawing hunting of the animal, and effectively banning restaurants and souvenir shops from keeping them on display.
Theresa Mundita Lim, director of the Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau at the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), says the indications are that the tarsier population has gone up since then.
But she acknowledges that tarsier tourism is a double-edged sword, and more needs to be done to protect the animal.
"We can still do more through education and stricter enforcement," she says. "There has to be stricter monitoring, also for tourists.
"It's not just up to us. We issue the policy but the policy needs to be implemented at the field level."
The DENR's tarsier conservation programme has an annual budget of five million pesos ($115,000).
"It's not enough. But we also rely on social mobilisation," says Lim, adding that it is sometimes concerned tourists who report centres where the tarsiers are not being well treated.
People caught breaching the wildlife act can be fined or even jailed, but tarsiers are still found on the black market in Manila for sale as pets, fetching about 6,000 pesos each.
There are only several hundred tarsiers left living in the wild on Bohol, according to the Philippine Tarsier Foundation.
Pizarras says most of these live in the 167 hectares (413 acres) of forest around the sanctuary -- elsewhere it is much harder for them to thrive.
"In the 70s the population was going down so I decided on my own to stop hunting tarsiers," he says.
"My father got angry with me because this was our means of livelihood.
"But I said maybe someday my kids and my grandchildren can see them no more, and he understood."

NEWS - OKLAHOMA CITY SCHOOLS BEGIN LONGER WINTER BREAK

2011-12-09T09:43:00.001-05:00

Oklahoma City schools begin longer winter break

Oklahoma City Public Schools will close their doors for winter break Friday night, a full week earlier than most school districts. Classes will resume Jan. 4.

BY MEGAN ROLLAND

Published: December 9, 2011

Friday is the last day of the semester for students in Oklahoma City Public Schools, who will enjoy one of the earliest and longest winter breaks in the state.
The state's largest district adopted a new school calendar in an effort to improve student performance. It shortened the summer break by a month and increased other breaks throughout the school year.
Winter break will be nearly four weeks, with classes resuming Jan. 4.
“It's a great time for families to be able to have some time together,” Superintendent Karl Springer said. “It's not long enough for our kids really to regress, but it is some time for our kids to enjoy a nice long break.”
Monday marks the second test of the new calendar's key purpose — three days of optional intersession classes at each school site for students who need the most help.
Springer said officials hope 20 percent of their students will be in school Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.
He said the instruction will be focused. Smaller class sizes will provide a better teacher-student ratio, he said.
The first districtwide intersession was in October when students took a two-week fall break. About 4,300 of the district's 43,000 students attended intersession classes. There was optimism that as word spread about intersession, attendance would grow.
The district provides transportation to and from school and lunch for the students. Teachers volunteer to work the extra days, but are compensated for their time.
Springer said after the first three-day intersession, teachers reported students coming back calm, focused and ready to get back to work.
“They just felt so calm,” Springer said. “Would I like to see a 200 day school year? Absolutely. But this is the closest we can get for now.”
Planning for the breakThe change in the district's calendar also changed the plans of other organizations.
The Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma is launching a new program Monday that will provide children with a daily lunch and a snack on weekdays over the long break. It's similar to the charity's summer meal program that aims to ensure low-income children are getting at least one healthy meal a day in absence of the free and reduced-price meals they get at school.
“We've never done a holiday feeding over a Christmas break before because Christmas break was two weeks and it was filled with holidays,” said Ryan Abernathy, the Food Banks programs director for community initiatives. “We've reconfigured to be able to provide meals.”
The food bank has partnered with the Oklahoma City Parks and Recreation department to provide lunches, snacks and fun events at recreation centers throughout the city.
Food to take homeAdditionally, Abernathy said they are working to add extra food to the backpacks students take home for the break as part of their Food for Kids backpack program. The feeding program sends food home for weekends and holidays with students in need.
Abernathy said that between now and Jan. 31, all donations to help support the food bank's many programs will be matched by Chesapeake Energy Corp.
“Usually every dollar provides five meals but because Chesapeake is matching each donation, every dollar provides 10 meals,” Abernathy said.

NEWS -GET A CHANCE TO REDESIGN U2s ALBUM COVER

2011-12-08T10:07:00.000-05:00

Get a chance to redesign U2`s album cover

Mumbai: Get creative and grab a chance to re-design a collage for popular international band U2`s album ‘Achtung Baby’.

The invitation has been extended by Talenthouse India, an online crowd-sourcing platform.

The original cover of U2`s 1991 album ‘Achtung Baby’, which propelled the Irish rock band to fame, embodied the zeitgeist of the early 1990s.

To honour the 20th anniversary of the album`s release, U2 wants fans to send in their best interpretation of today`s global environment, to Talenthouse. The interpretations can be in the form of a photograph or artwork.

"Talenthouse India are looking to provide creative artists opportunities to work not only in Bollywood, but also giving them a platform to showcase their creativity internationally in Hollywood," Arun Mehra, CEO, Talenthouse India, said in a press statement.

After the submission of entries, 15 winners’ work will be compiled into a collage acting as a modern makeover for the album`s cover work. The winning submissions will be selected by U2`s official designer and photographer, Shaughn McGrath and Anton Corbijn.

IANS

ARTICLE -OKLAHOMA ARTISTS NICOLE MOAN CREATES FANTASTICAL WEARABLE ART

2011-12-05T09:41:00.000-05:00

Oklahoma artist Nicole Moan creates fantastical wearable art

BY HEATHER WARLICK MOORE

Published: December 5, 2011

Oklahoma artist Nicole Moan creates fantastical wearable art

BY HEATHER WARLICK MOORE
Published: December 5, 2011

Oklahoma City has a thriving community of artists that grows more diverse as the city carves out its new identity as a cultural center.
That diversity is partly due to artistic Oklahomans such as Nicole Moan, 33, originally from Sacramento, Calif. The artist, who has lived in Oklahoma City for the past 20 years, creates extraordinary wearable ceramic corsets, wall hangings, sculpted tile murals and anything else her creative mind dreams up. Her work graces galleries from Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles across the country to New York City and in even in Europe.
She and her husband, Jason Moan (pronounced Mo-Ann), 35, a sculptor, and their three daughters live in what looks like an average northwest Oklahoma City home.
Step inside, however, and it's clear you're in artists' quarters. Nearly every inch of the family's living room and main bathroom has been reimagined by the artsy couple. Bright, sculpted ceramic tile scenes inspired by Nicole Moan's painter father, Albert Riddle, adorn the living room floor. Riddle paints in a cubist style the likes of Pablo Picasso with a surrealist twist reminiscent of Salvador Dali.
“My first memory of actually working with art was drawing store plans. My parents used to do interior design for stores and restaurants,” Nicole Moan said. She also remembers building elaborate mud palaces for her Barbie dolls.
Moan's mother, Deborah Elders Riddle, paints primarily with oils and creates equestrian themes and realistic scenes of animals, gardens and people.
Perhaps it was her mother's sensibility for natural subjects that inspired Moan to transform her bathroom into a fantastic underwater world of handmade tiles. A ceramic mermaid's tail sculpture slides up one corner of the room; a claw-foot bathtub is painted deep swirling ocean blue rimmed in gold, and a sculpted tile relief of cubist style hangs over the tub.
Creating corsetsIt was about 10 years ago that Moan created her first corset. She needed something to wear to an art event.
“I used to make fabric corsets, but I never really liked them very much because they just looked like everybody else's corsets,” Moan recalled.
So, Nicole came up with the idea of making a wearable ceramic corset, but she wasn't sure how to do it. When her husband came home from work that day, she asked him how he felt about wearing a ceramic corset — he rolled his eyes and said something like “Oh, God.” (“Now he wears my corsets all the time,” Nicole said.)
And so the two found themselves the night before the event, lying on the floor, their torsos molded in two inches of wet ceramic material, blow-drying themselves.
She remembers thinking, “This is the wrong way to make them.”
Since then, Moan has improved her corset-making process, using her formal education in engineering. She found that dressmakers' dummies weren't very true to real women's bodies, so she crafted her own ceramic bodies of varying sizes and torso lengths on which to design.
Her corsets, more than 50 of which are for sale on her website, come in several styles and can be sized up to about a woman's 20.
Moan's styles include keyhole corsets that dip low into the cleavage; some feature a fold-over collar style; some are waist cinchers; and many of Moan's corsets are designed for men.
Moan also sculpts ceramic wall hanging corsets and other wall art. All her art is shown on her website, www.nicolemoan.com.

NEWS -SMALL EARTHQUAKE RECORDED NEAR LUTHER

2011-12-04T09:14:00.000-05:00

Small earthquake recorded near Luther

The U.S. Geological Survey reported that a 2.2 magnitude quake hit near Luther about 1 a.m. Sunday.

FROM STAFF REPORTS

Published: December 4, 2011

A small earthquake was recorded near Luther Sunday morning, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The quake was a 2.2 magnitude earthquake and hit about 1 a.m. Sunday. Its epicenter was 5 miles southeast of Luther and 7 miles southwest of Wellston.
The earthquake was 23 miles from Oklahoma City.

NEWS - STATUE OF EGYPTIAN KING AMENHOTEP III FOUND

2011-12-01T08:35:00.000-05:00

Thursday, Dec. 01, 2011

Statue of Egyptian king Amenhotep III found

The Associated Press

CAIRO — Egyptian archaeologists have unearthed a large statue of king Amenhotep III who ruled nearly 3,400 years ago and who was the grandfather of the famed boy-pharaoh Tutankhamun.
The Supreme Council of Antiquities says the latest find was made at the king's funerary temple in the southern city of Luxor.
Thursday's statement says the 44 feet (13.5 meter) tall statue is made of colored quartzite. It is composed of several large pieces that once put together will depict the king as standing.

Today's news video

Amenhotep III ruled from 1390-1352 B.C.
The latest find comes after several other relics of the king were unearthed last year in his mortuary temple on the west bank of the Nile River in Luxor.

NEWS -ZEBRA EUTHANIZED AT OKLAHOMA CIRY ZOO

2011-11-29T09:24:00.000-05:00

Zebra euthanized at Oklahoma City Zoo

A zebra with chronic foot problems has been euthanized at the Oklahoma City Zoo. Zephra was treated by specialists from across the state for an abscess in her hoof, but veterinarians had to euthanize the zebra.

BY CARRIE COPPERNOLL

Published: November 29, 2011

A zebra that was treated for hoof trouble for more than three months was euthanized Wednesday after Oklahoma City Zoo staff members decided her infection could not be cured.
Zephra, 19, was euthanized the day before Thanksgiving after a painful infection immobilized the half-ton animal, said Jennifer D'Agostino, director of veterinarian services at the Oklahoma City Zoo.
Zephra was diagnosed in August with laminitis, a general inflammation in the hoof. It can be triggered by a variety of things, such as heat or a virus, though zoo officials aren't sure what caused Zephra's case, D'Agostino said. The zebra was given a horseshoe, which temporarily relieved the pressure.
But Zephra began to limp again, and a more extensive exam revealed a painful abscess. She was immobilized several times so experts from throughout the state could help treat her. Because Grevy's zebras are wild and aggressive, Zephra had to be anesthetized for each treatment.
Despite treatment, her pain and the infection wouldn't go away, D'Agostino said. The tip of the bone inside her hoof was dying. The only solution was surgery.
Henry Jann, an equine surgeon from Oklahoma State University, performed the surgery Nov. 10. They bored a hole into the bottom of her hoof, removed the dead bone, packed it with antibiotics and wrapped it in a hard cast.
Zephra showed a lot of promise for the next week, D'Agostino said.
“She was doing great,” she said. “She was walking without hardly any limp.”
But she quickly deteriorated. The infection got worse and her foot began separating from the hoof. Zoo officials cleaned her and gave her another day. But when they unwrapped the bandages Nov. 23, they knew the problem was too much for her to overcome, D'Agostino said.
“As soon as we took the bandage off,” she said, “we knew.”
Zoo veterinarians, along with Zephra's keepers and zoo management, decided the zebra should be euthanized, D'Agostino said. The animal was administered a lethal dose of anesthesia.
The zoo's other adult Grevy's zebra, Darasa, banged her head against the side of the barn where Zephra was euthanized, D'Agostino said.
“I think Darasa knew,” she said. “I think Zephra was just kind of done.”
Zephra's body has been donated to Skulls Unlimited. Her bones will either end up on display at the Museum of Osteology or become part of an educational exhibit, D'Agostino said.
In retrospect, D'Agostino said Zephra's condition was common and complex.
“The whole time we thought it was all going to be fine. The infection got the better of her,” she said. “We knew that this was the road it could go down.”

NEWS - TWO SMALL QUAKES RECORDED IN EASTERN OKLAHOMA

2011-11-27T09:28:00.000-05:00

Two small quakes recorded in eastern Oklahoma

The U.S. Geological Survey reports that two small earthquakes registered Sunday in eastern Oklahoma. The quakes' epicenters were near Wellston and Gerty.

FROM STAFF REPORTS

Published: November 27, 2011

Two small earthquakes were recorded in eastern Oklahoma Sunday morning, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
A 3.2 magnitude quake hit about 3 miles away from Wellston shortly before 6 a.m. Sunday. It hit 4 miles from Luther and 27 miles away from Oklahoma City.
Before that quake, a 2.1 magnitude earthquake hit 2 miles southeast of Gerty about 2:30 a.m. Sunday. Its epicenter was 10 miles away from Allen and 86 miles from Oklahoma City.
Three small earthquakes were reported Friday near Shawnee.
The first two quakes, which measured 3.3 and 2.7 magnitudes, were reported just after 2 p.m. about three miles north of Johnson, which is about 10 miles east of Shawnee, the Oklahoma Geological Survey said.
The third, a 3.1-magnitude earthquake, was reported about three miles northwest of Prague, survey officials reported.
The area has been the center of recent seismic activity lately including the largest recorded earthquake in the state's history, a 5.6-magnitude earthquake on Nov. 5.

NEWS - GORILLA BABY DEATH MYSTERY-ACCIDENT? OR GORIALLA INFANTCIDE?

2011-11-26T02:50:00.000-05:00

Gorilla baby death mystery: Accident or gorilla infanticide?

Zookeepers don't believe the death of a nine-day-old western lowland gorilla infant at Chicago's Lincoln Park Zoo was intentional, but mystery still surrounds gorilla behavior both in zoos and in the wild.

By Patrik Jonsson, Staff writer / November 26, 2011

The death of a nine-day-old rare western lowland gorilla infant from head trauma at Chicago's Lincoln Park Zoo highlights the mysterious dynamics of child rearing in gorilla tribes, where only two out of three infants survive.

Zoo authorities say the unnamed baby, who had already become a big hit with visitors, was observed being carried, lifeless, by its 16-year-old first-time mom, Bana, in the zoo's gorilla enclosure on Friday morning. Authorities believe the mother may have accidentally sat on the baby, but admit they don't fully understand what happened.
"There are no bite marks or cuts and no sign of aggression, but it is possible she may have been dropped or even sat on," Zoo spokeswoman Sharon Dewar told the Daily Mail. "It happened at night and it was too dark to be captured by the cameras in the exhibit."
Last year, a baby gorilla lost part of its leg after a family scuffle in an enclosure at the Louisville Zoo, in Kentucky. Several years ago, a gorilla infant at Zoo Atlanta, which has the largest population of lowland gorillas in the US, was hurt, perhaps accidentally, by the dominant male silverback in the group. Earlier this year, a gorilla infant named Tiny at the London Zoo was killed during a group squabble after a new male was introduced to the group.
Most infanticides in the wild occur when the dominant silverback dies, which often causes females with babies to seek protection inside other family groups rather than face the potential of a rival male murdering the deceased male's offspring.
“Squabbles within a gorilla group do happen,” Louisville Zoo Animal Curator Steve Wing said in a statement. “Gorillas exhibit complex and dynamic relationship behaviors. It is challenging to identify the reason for this occurrence."
But while relationships can be managed at zoos, it's impossible to anticipate the full dynamics of gorilla behavior. In Chicago, zoo staff had worked with Bana to help her figure out how to rear the baby, and all signs showed that she was a good and willing mother.
The zoo says workers allowed Bana to hold onto her baby for several hours "to make peace with what happened."

ARTICLE -2011 HAS BEEN A YEAR OF NATURAL DISASTERS IN OKLAHOMA

2011-11-25T02:09:00.001-05:00

2011 has been year of natural disasters in Oklahoma

Compiled by Bryan Painter

Published: November 25, 2011

Even though there is more than a month left in 2011, it has been quite the year for disasters including weather-related events, earthquakes and wildfires. Following is a list of some of those compiled with the help of the Oklahoma Climatological Survey, National Weather Service, Norman and state Emergency Management Department, The Oklahoman archives. Although there were certainly others, this gives an idea of the wide-range of what Oklahomans have faced in 2011.
January:The month was the 33rd coolest and 6th driest since 1895.
February:In January/February, there were 4 fatalities related to the snowstorm that began on January 31, according to the State Medical Examiner's office.
Up to 21 inches of snow fell in northeast Oklahoma and widespread reports of 6-12 inches over much of the state.
A new all-time 24-hour record of 27 inches of snow fell in Spavinaw between February 8-9. The temperature plummeted to a never before seen low of -31 degrees at the Nowata Mesonet site. Mother Nature brought a swift and steady warm up through the next seven days, culminating in a 110-degree temperature swing at Nowata in a week's time.
Destruction of a significant portion of the state's wheat crop was well underway at this time as the drought continued to intensify.
March:The month ended as the 31st warmest and 8th driest since 1895. Drought continued to intensify.
Wildfires included on March 11 there were reports 15 people were injured in fires, according to The Oklahoma State Department of Health. On March 11 more than 42 fires were reported statewide, according to reports from Oklahoma Forestry.
Preliminary damage assessments received from the American Red Cross and local emergency managers, included 30 homes destroyed in Oklahoma County alone.
April:The month brought the most tornadoes,50,in April since accurate records began in 1950.The previous record was 40 back in 1957.
Two people were killed by an EF3 tornado that struck Tushka in Atoka County on April 14.
Ponca City reported a 94 mph wind gust on April 8 to go along with more than a half dozen instances of softball size hail during the month. There was flooding in the eastern half of the state.
The drought continued to intensify.
By the evening of April 3, the state Emergency Operations Center was aware of more than 100 fires burning across the state.
On April 6, the state Emergency Operations Center was working with the Oklahoma National Guard to provide aerial fire suppression via Blackhawk and Chinook helicopters equipped with buckets. The Oklahoma Highway Patrol is assisting with traffic control. Oklahoma Forestry Services is providing ground firefighting equipment.
May:Tornadoes, including an EF5 tornado, ravaged the state during May. And yes, the drought continued to intensify. The 46 twisters during May killed 11, including nine by the EF5 that traveled from near Hinton to Guthrie on May 24.
Two EF3s, two EF4s and the EF5 all struck on May 24th.
On May 23, a storm near Gotebo dropped a 6-inch diameter hailstone, a new statewide record in that category,
The drought raged on in the west.
June, July and August:This was the hottest summer in terms of statewide average for any state since records began in 1895 with a statewide average of 86.8 degrees. Early reports showed Texas with the hottest summer, but the National Climatic Data Center continued to study information. Not only did Oklahoma beat its own record for the previous hottest summer of 85.2 degrees from 1934, it destroyed it by 1.6 degrees. In fact, Oklahoma now owns five of the 10 (11 with a tie) hottest summers across the U.S. since records in 1895.
The statewide record was broken for the most triple digit days. The previous record for most days at or above 100 degrees for a single location in the state was 86, set at Hollis back in 1956. Grandfield had 101 days.
July's statewide average temperature for Oklahoma was 89.3 degrees. The previous hottest July in state history was 88.1 degrees back in 1954. The 88.1 degrees in 1954 had also been the hottest month in any state back to 1895, until this July in Oklahoma.
In this span there were numerous wildfires with 15 resulting in Fire Management Assistance Grants, according to state Emergency Management Department.
September:The drought was at its zenith and then quickly received some relief from the heat. Nearly 70 percent of the state was covered by the exceptional drought category by early September, and 85 percent was extreme/exceptional. The sun, heat and lack of precipitation had taken its toll for three very long months.
The statewide average temperature for September was 1.4 degrees below normal and the 32nd coolest since 1895. Ft. Supply reached a low of 37 degrees on Sept. 6. The month was also the 20th driest on record at 2.15 inches below normal.
October:Some drought relief came for central and northeastern Oklahoma. The Panhandle even saw a bit of snow late in the month.
November:There was a 4.7-magnitude earthquake at 2:12 a.m. Nov. 5 northwest of Prague,
Then later on Nov. 5, there was a 5.6-magnitude quake. The epicenter was northwest of Prague. The 5.6 earthquake broke the state's previous record for strongest recorded earthquake – 5.5 magnitude in El Reno in 1952, according to the Oklahoma Geological Survey and the U.S. Geological Survey.
Another earthquake, registered at 4.7 magnitude, was centered in Lincoln County on Nov. 7. The epicenter was about five miles northwest of Prague.
Welcome to November 2011, the May of Autumn. There was flooding, and some tornadoes, including an EF4 grinder on Nov. 7 that tore through the Tipton area. It was the first violent tornado, EF4/EF5 in November on officials records for tornadoes in Oklahoma, dating back to 1950.
There are now 10 tornadoes confirmed for November, bringing the annual total to date, to 114 for 2011, topping the 107 in 1957 for second place. The most was 145 in 1999.

NEWS - 3.7 EARTHQUAKE RECORDED NEAR PRAGUE OKLAHOMA

2011-11-24T02:15:00.000-05:00

3.7 earthquake recorded near Prague

The U.S. Geological Survey recorded an earthquake that struck near Prague Thursday afternoon.

FROM STAFF REPORTS

Published: November 24, 2011

A 3.7 magnitude earthquake was recorded near Prague Thursday afternoon, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The quake struck 5 miles northwest of Prague about 3:11 p.m. Thursday. Its epicenter was 7 miles from Sparks and 45 miles away from Oklahoma City.

NEWS - 'EXTINCT' FROG HOPS BACK INTO NORTHERN ISRAEL

2011-11-18T11:17:00.000-05:00

'Extinct' frog hops back into northern Israel

JERUSALEM (AP) — A frog species believed to be extinct has hopped back into sight in northern Israel.

Omri Gal of Israel's Nature and Parks Authority said Thursday the Hula Painted Frog was seen for the first time in 50 years this week. He said it was declared extinct.

Gal said, "It's an amazing find, now we have a second chance to preserve the species."

The frog is native to the Hula Valley, a swamp drained in the 1950s to stop malaria.

Aquatic ecologist Dana Milstein says the frog was rare even before, and little is known about it. In the 1940s, a specimen ate a second frog, leading to speculation the species is cannibalistic.

She credited rehydration of the area for the frog sighting and said more are likely in the reserve.

NEWS - 5 RARE TORTOISES BORN AT RIVERBANKS ZOO (South Carolina)

2011-11-18T11:12:00.001-05:00

5 rare tortoises born at Riverbanks Zoo

By JOEY HOLLEMAN

It’s hard to imagine something as large, old and slow-moving as a Galapagos tortoise being stealthy, but one female at Riverbanks Zoo and Garden managed to bury a clutch of eggs several months ago without her keepers noticing.
Kathy Vause, a senior reptile keeper, got a surprise when she went into the tortoise exhibit early Tuesday and discovered four recently hatched babies in a buried nest. A more precocious fifth hatchling was found short while later, already having ventured out into the exhibit.
“It was early and no one else was around,” Vause said. “I called (curator of herpetology) Scott (Pfaff) on his cellphone, and he couldn’t tell what I was screaming about.”

These are the first successful Galapagos hatches ever at Riverbanks and the first babies from two Santa Cruz tortoise parents ever in a U.S. zoo.
The tortoises on each of the islands in the Galapagos chain — including the island of Santa Cruz — are considered separate species. Until about 15 years ago, the various island species were mingled in U.S. zoos, creating many hybrid babies. Both the Riverbanks mother, Alberta, and the father, Abrazzo, have had offspring with non-Santa Cruz tortoises at other zoos before coming to Riverbanks in 1995.
“We had been hoping for this for some time but knew the tortoise’s age could definitely be a factor with fertility,” Pfaff said. “These hatchlings are of great importance, representing a significant addition to the captive population of Santa Cruz Galapagos tortoises.”
The species is considered to be endangered, with about 10,000 to 15,000 tortoises living on the Galapagos.
The hatchlings look much like their giant parents, only they’re small enough to fit in the palm of a human hand. The babies aren’t yet on public display. They’re being kept in a nursery while zoo officials discuss plans for a public display.
The tortoises can live up to 200 years and reach up to 900 pounds. Alberta, who arrived in the U.S. in 1951, and Abrazzo, who was brought to the U.S. in 1928, are thought to be more than 100 years old.
Keepers can’t be 100 percent sure of the parentage of the hatchlings, but the zoo’s other female, Conchita, hasn’t laid eggs in recent years, The other Riverbanks male, Bravo, seldom mates with Alberta. Frequent visitors to the zoo probably have seen Alberta and Abrazzo mate. They aren’t exactly shy about it.
Alberta had dug out a nest and laid eggs several times in recent years, but they all had been infertile. Her routine was to lay the eggs on a hill in the exhibit, usually in late afternoon during the spring. That’s when keepers kept an eye out for nest-building, Vause said.
Vause theorizes that this time Alberta laid the eggs later in the year, when the tortoises are allowed to roam their enclosure after dark. She covered up the nest well and did a good job of keeping it secret during the incubation period of three to six months. Only recently had Alberta started hinting something had happened.
“She started acting like she wanted to lay eggs this past week,” Vause said. “We’d have to urge her into the house at night.”
Vause decided to check Tuesday to see if Alberta recently had laid eggs. Instead of eggs, she found hatchlings ready to roll.
“She snuck them in on us,” Vause said.

NEWS - OKLAHOMA ZOO SOCIETY KICKS OFF COIN CAMPAIGN TO BRING IN NEW ELEPHANT

2011-11-17T11:12:00.000-05:00

Zoo Society kicks off coin campaign to bring new elephant to Oklahoma City

The Oklahoma Zoological Society is kicking off a coin drive to help pay the $10,000 shipping costs to bring a bull elephant from Canada to Oklahoma City. A transportation date has not been set for Rex, who will come to Oklahoma to breed.

BY CARRIE COPPERNOLL

Published: November 17, 2011

Jorge Amezquita wished someone had brought a real elephant to his school assembly Wednesday morning.
Nevertheless, he and his classmates at Westwood Elementary thought it was all pretty exciting.
“I really want to see the elephant,” Jorge said. “If we can get a lot of change, then we can see Rex.”
The Oklahoma Zoological Society kicked off a coin campaign called Rex's Trek to pay for the $10,000 transportation bill to bring an elephant from a Canadian zoo to Oklahoma City.
The male elephant, named Rex, will be moved from African Lion Safari in Cambridge, Ontario. He will breed with both adult female elephants in Oklahoma City in the coming years.
Bank of Oklahoma has joined the project, and a special account for the coin drive has been established. Anyone can make a donation. The drive runs through Dec. 7. For more information, call 425-0612.
The coin donation drive is a tradition in Oklahoma City, said Dana McCrory, executive director of the Oklahoma Zoological Society.
Oklahoma City residents bought the zoo's first elephant, Luna, in 1930 with a coin drive. The same was true for the zoo's second elephant, Judy. That campaign started with a check for $16.73 from Kingfisher resident Duane Andrews, according to the zoo. About 50,000 other donors chipped in and raised the money needed to buy the elephant.
The project is fun for the students, said Martha Fraire, who teaches English language learners. Students have enjoyed collecting food for the hungry and pennies to pay for tools for the school garden.
“Even though the school is in need,” she said, “they're still willing to help others.”
Vida Loreto, 8, said she's excited about the project and plans to bring some of her coins.
“I think it's really cool they're bringing more elephants,” Vida said. “I really like animals.”

NEWS - SECRET SERVICE SAYS BULLET HIT WHITE HOUSE

2011-11-16T12:46:00.000-05:00

Secret Service says bullet hit White House

November 16, 2011

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Secret Service says a bullet hit an exterior window of the White House and was stopped by ballistic glass.
An additional round of ammunition was also found on the exterior of the White House. The bullets were found Tuesday.
The discovery follows reports of gunfire near the White House on Friday. Witnesses heard shots and saw two speeding vehicles in the area. An AK-47 rifle was also recovered.
The Secret Service said it has not conclusively connected Friday's incident with the bullets found on the White House grounds.
U.S. Park Police have an arrest warrant out for Oscar Ortega-Hernandez, who is believed to be connected to the earlier incident. He is described as a 21-year-old Hispanic man, 5 feet 11 inches tall, 160 pounds, with a medium build, brown eyes and black hair.

NEWS - LAST REMAINING MUNCHKIN FROM 'WIZARD OF OZ' HAS PASSED AWAY

2011-11-16T11:07:00.000-05:00

'Wizard of Oz' Munchkin Karl Slover dies at 93

the last surviving actors who played Munchkins in the 1939 classic film "The Wizard of Oz" has died. He was 93.

The 4-foot-5 (1.3-meter) Slover died of cardiopulmonary arrest Tuesday afternoon in a central Georgia hospital, said Laurens County Deputy Coroner Nathan Stanley. According to friends, as recently as last weekend, Slover appeared at events in the suburban Chicago area.

Slover was best known for playing the lead trumpeter in the Munchkins' band but also had roles as a townsman and soldier in the film, said John Fricke, author of "100 Years of Oz" and five other books on the movie and its star, Judy Garland. Slover was one of the tiniest male Munchkins in the movie.

Long after Slover retired, he continued to appear around the country at festivals and events related to the movie. He was one of seven Munchkins at the 2007 unveiling of a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame dedicated to the little people in the movie. Only three remain of the 124 diminutive actors who played the beloved Munchkins.

"He has a genuine immortality," Fricke said. "Of the 124 little people, he's one of the handful who got to enjoy this latter-day fame, to have people know who he was and be able to pick him out of the crowd in the movie."
Slover was born Karl Kosiczky in what is now the Czech Republic and he was the only child in his family to be dwarf sized.
"In those uninformed days, his father tried witch doctor treatments to make him grow," Fricke said. "Knowing Karl and his triumph over his early life, you can't help but celebrate the man at a time like this."
He was buried in the backyard, immersed in heated oil until his skin blistered and then attached to a stretching machine at a hospital, all in the attempt to make him become taller. Eventually he was sold by his father at age 9 to a traveling show in Europe, Fricke said.
Slover continued to perform into his late 20s, when he moved to the United States, changed his name and appeared in circuses as part of a vaudeville group known as the Singer Midgets. The group's 30 performers became the nucleus of the Munchkins.
Slover is the first of the three trumpeters to herald the Munchkin mayor when he makes his entrance. Slover had been cast to play the second trumpeter but switched when another actor got stage fright during filming, said longtime friend Allen Pease, the co-founder of the former Munchkinland Market Days outside Chesterton, Indiana.
"Karl didn't know what stage fright meant," he said.

He was paid $50 a week for the movie and told friends that Garland's dog in the movie, "Toto," made more money.

The surviving Munchkin actors found new generations of fans in the late 1980s when they began making appearances around the country.

"It wasn't until the Munchkins started making their appearances in 1989 that they all came to realize how potent the film had become and remained," Fricke said. "He was wonderfully articulate about his memories, he had anecdotes to share."

NEWS - RHINO SUBSPECIES VANISHING FROM THE WILD

2011-11-10T11:49:00.000-04:00

Rhino subspecies vanishing from the wild

AP – Thu, Nov 10, 2011

GENEVA (AP) — The Western Black Rhino of Africa has been declared officially extinct, and two other subspecies of rhinoceros are close to meeting the same fate, a leading conservation group said Thursday.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature said a recent reassessment of the Western Black Rhino had led it to declare the species extinct, adding that the Northern White Rhino of central Africa is now "possibly extinct" in the wild and the Javan Rhino is "probably extinct" in Vietnam, after poachers killed the last animal there in 2010.

A small but declining population of the Javan Rhino survives on the Indonesian island of Java, it added.

"A lack of political support and willpower for conservation efforts in many rhino habitats, international organized crime groups targeting rhinos and increasing illegal demand for rhino horns and commercial poaching are the main threats faced by rhinos," the group said in a statement accompanying the latest update of its so-called Red List of endangered species.

About a quarter of all mammals are at risk of extinction, IUCN said, adding that some species have been brought back from the brink with successful conservation programs.

The Southern White Rhino numbered just 100 animals at the end of the 19th century, but has since flourished and now has a population of over 20,000.

The Przewalski's Horse, a type of wild horse from Central Asia, has come back from extinction after a successful breeding program in captivity.

The Red List now contains almost 62,000 species of plants and animals, whose status is constantly monitored by conservationists.

____

Red List: http://www.iucnredlist.org/

NEWS - ANOTHER EARTHQUAKE REPORTED NEAR MEEKER OKLAHOMA

2011-11-10T10:49:00.000-04:00

Another earthquake reported near Meeker

MEEKER — Another earthquake has been reported near Meeker.

FROM STAFF REPORTS

Published: November 10, 2011

MEEKER — Another earthquake has been reported near Meeker.
The quake's strength was recorded as 3.2 magnitude, the U.S. Geological Survey reports.
It hit at 2:36 a.m. Thursday 4 miles east of Meeker. Meeker schools were closed Tuesday due to damage from another small earthquake Monday night.

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i didnt feel it.

MICHELLE

INNOVATION - DISH DRAINING CLOSET : SPACE SAVER EVERY HOME SHOULD HAVE (I Have ShelvesThat Do The Same Thing)

2011-11-10T09:54:00.000-04:00

Dish Draining Closet: Space Saver Every Home Should Have

Dish Draining Closet: Space Saver Every Home Should Have

Innovation often spreads like wildfire – it is a wonder, really, that this 50-year-old design idea has not fully dowsed the flames of frustration in kitchens around the world. Instead of dedicating surface or sink area to drying dishes, it makes shelves serve a secondary purpose and lets you skip a step entirely.

Still found mainly in Northern Europe, the idea is simple: dishes are placed into a bottomless cupboard where each shelf drains down to the next level, and ultimately to waiting sinks and drains below. The effect? a marked decrease in the 30 thousand of hours spent by Finnish housewives doing dishes daily.

Plastic-coated steel wire, of the kind usually found in baskets sitting inside or alongside sinks, frames each shelving layer rather than an impermeable surface, though other variants exist as well (both covered and uncovered).

We are all familiar with drying mats, collapsible wood, plastic or metal dish racks and other solutions, but even hanging dish drainers exist on the shelves of stores like IKEA, but few let one bypass the interstitial step of drying then putting away dishes.

Unlike many non-appliance amenities, this (loosely translated) ‘dish drying closet’ design and many subsequent variations can be traced back to a single inventor: Maiju Gebhard, who created it as part of the Finnish Association for Work Efficiency in the mid-1940s. Since then, though, it remains an elusive fixture in many modern kitchens outside its home continent.

NEWS - OKLAHOMA GOVERNOR DECLARES EMERGANCY AFTER EARTHQUAKE

2011-11-09T10:40:00.000-04:00

Oklahoma governor declares emergency after earthquake

Published: November 9, 2011

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin has declared a state of emergency for 20 counties after earthquakes, tornadoes and severe storms battered the state in recent days.
Fallin issued the executive order on Wednesday. It allows state agencies to make emergency purchases and paves the way for seeking federal assistance if it is deemed necessary.
Since Saturday, Oklahoma has been rattled by more than a dozen earthquakes of 3.0 magnitude or higher, including a 5.6 quake that set a new state record and caused some damage in central Oklahoma.
Parts of the state also have been hit by tornadoes, straight-line winds and heavy rains.
The counties in the declaration are: Caddo, Carter, Cleveland, Comanche, Greer, Harmon, Jackson, Johnston, Kiowa, LeFlore, Lincoln, McCurtain, Murray, Okfuskee, Oklahoma, Pottawatomie, Pushmataha, Sequoyah, Tillman, and Washita.

NEWS - HIDDEN DEVIL FOUND IN GIOTTO ASSISI FRESCO

2011-11-08T15:44:00.000-04:00

Hidden devil found in Giotto Assisi fresco

ROME (AP) — A smirking horned devil exists in the frescoed clouds of a Giotto work in the famed Assisi basilica, an Italian art historian said Tuesday — a tantalizing detail that apparently went unnoticed by scholars for centuries.

The discovery was reported in the online edition of this month's issue of the Franciscan religious order publication San Francesco Patrono d'Italia.

Art historian Chiara Frugoni said she has spent almost 30 years studying the cycle of frescoes in the upper level of the Umbrian landmark church, but only recently spotted the image in what appears to be an empty space in a cloud.

The frescoes — in Assisi, in the central Italian province of Perugia — are by Giotto, a Fiorentine, whose narrative style and human-like figurative style marked an evolution in art in the late 13th century.

In a telephone interview with The Associated Press on Tuesday, Frugoni said she chanced on the image of the devil while trying to more precisely date a fresco depicting the death of St. Francis of Assisi. She has since concluded it was painted in 1289.

"It's very visible," she said, adding that the image had not previously come to attention because no one had been looking for it.
"One sees what you already know. I assure you that now all will see it," she said.
She described the detail to the publication as a "vigorous portrait of a devil with two dark horns" cleverly hidden in the swirling clouds near an angel, and said that the significance of its placement needs to be studied.
The Rev. Enzo Fortunato, a friar with the order, said that in medieval times it was commonly believed that at death two figures go into action — an angel to accompany the just into heaven; a devil to bring the damned into the depths of hell.

Fortunato said that by hiding the devil in the clouds, Giotto appears to have beaten by nearly two centuries a technique attributed to Andrea Mantegna, who in one painting shows a knight emerging from a cloud.

A strong earthquake in 1997 heavily damaged the basilica, and restorers took years to complete the restoration on some of the Cimabue and Giotto frescoes.

www.sanfrancescopatronoditalia.it

NEWS - LEONARDO DA VINCI THE STAR OF A MAJOR LONDON ART SHOW

2011-11-08T15:40:00.000-04:00

Leonardo da Vinci the star of major London show

LONDON (AP) — It has masterpieces, media frenzy, a contested gem — everything but the "Mona Lisa." London's latest blockbuster art show confirms Leonardo da Vinci as a Renaissance rock star.

A new exhibition of the artist's paintings at London's National Gallery is opening amid A-list levels of hype and anticipation.

The BBC asked viewers: "Is this the greatest art exhibition ever?" Tuesday's VIP preview is being broadcast live on television and in 40 British movie theaters.

"Leonardo: Painter at the Court of Milan" focuses on da Vinci's formative years as a court artist in the 1480s and 1490s. The gallery spent five years persuading museums in Italy, France, the United States, Russia and Poland to lend fragile works for the show, which gathers nine of Leonardo's 15 surviving paintings and dozens of his drawings.

"There are many loans we only seriously dreamt would come here," said National Gallery director Nicholas Penny. "Everything we dreamt of has come true."

There is no "Mona Lisa" — it was created later, after Leonardo had left Milan — and no "Last Supper," which remains in Milan's Monastery of Santa Maria delle Grazie. The show does include a full-scale copy of the mural by one of Leonardo's students, as well as the master's preparatory sketches and other drawings — many loaned by Queen Elizabeth II, who owns one of the world's largest collections of them.

There are sights to stir art-lovers' hearts, including two versions of the Biblical scene "The Virgin of the Rocks" which have never been shown together. One usually hangs in the Louvre in Paris, while the other — once thought to be a studio copy but now restored and validated as the master's work — is owned by the National Gallery. The show's curator, Luke Syson, said even Leonardo probably never saw them in the same room.

Another talking point is "Christ as Salvator Mundi," a formerly disputed portrait that sold at auction in 1958 for just 45 pounds, but which the gallery says is an authentic da Vinci work.
The painting, which shows Christ face-on, holding up one hand in blessing and grasping a crystal orb in the other, still has its doubters, but has recently been valued at $200 million. It is owned by R.W. Chandler, a consortium represented by New York art historian and dealer Robert Simon.
The exhibition, which opens Wednesday and runs to Feb. 5, is expected to be one of the most popular in the gallery's 187-year history and is already sold out until mid-December. To avoid it being overrun, the gallery is selling 180 tickets every 30 minutes, 50 fewer than it is allowed under health and safety rules, and is extending opening hours to accommodate demand.
Beyond the hype, Syson said he hoped the show would "refocus attention on Leonardo the painter" — rather than the scientist, inventor, architect or sculptor.
"First and foremost, Leonardo was trained as a painter, and he thought as a painter, even when he was working on other things," Syson said.
"Careful, detailed, precise observation" was at the root of all he did, Syson said. "Trusting what he could see, rather than what he could read."
The exhibition traces the development of da Vinci's technique and artistic vision under the patronage of Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan — "the classic wicked uncle, the despot," Syson said, but also an art-loving aristocrat who gave Leonardo money and time to explore his ideas.
Syson said that when da Vinci arrived in Milan from Florence, aged about 30, Leonardo was already "unprecedentedly curious about the world around him."
He injected a new naturalism into painting. Plants in the first "Virgin of the Rocks" are depicted in almost microscopic detail. Portrait subjects had traditionally been depicted in profile, but Leonardo turned them so they look toward the viewer. He strove to capture his subjects' thoughts and emotions on their faces. "The Lady With an Ermine," a depiction of his patron's 16-year-old mistress, has a teasing, inward expression, while "The Belle Ferronniere" — based on the duke's wife — looks boldly and challengingly at the viewer.
"These are much more than simple likenesses of people," Syson said.
In "The Madonna Litta," on loan from the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, the Virgin's idealized beauty is complemented by the breast-feeding baby's cheeky gaze toward the viewer.
Later, Leonardo began to seek perfection, seeing himself as "somebody whose talent is, in a sense, fed by God himself" and striving to depict a kind of absolute beauty.
"I think 100 years later he would have got into trouble with the Inquisition," because of his unorthodox ideas on art and religion, Syson said.

"He believed painting could represent not just everything that was visible, but all that was invisible in the universe."

___

Online: http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/

NEWS - BEAVER-TAIL TORNADO HITS OKLAHOMA (Just After A Major EarthQuake)

2011-11-08T15:35:00.000-04:00

'Beaver Tail' Tornado Hits Oklahoma

At least one tornado — and most likely many more — ripped through southwest Oklahoma last night (Nov. 7) due to textbook twister weather, just days after the biggest earthquake in the state's history.

One twister has been confirmed by the National Weather Service (NWS) in Norman, Okla., and today, their storm damage survey teams will deploy to investigate the tornado tracks. They will most likely confirm other tornadoes and rate their strength.

"There were probably quite a few more than one tornado," said Mark Austin, a meteorologist at the NWS office in Norman.

Baseball-size hail pounded the state. Wind gusts up to 92 mph were reported. A twister flipped a storm-chaser's car, but he escaped unscathed.

Many buildings in Oklahoma are vulnerable to severe weather after a magnitude 5.6 earthquake rocked the state this past weekend. The earthquake was the largest in the state's history, and was bookended by a magnitude 4.7 foreshock and a magnitude 4.7 aftershock, which struck last night.

No twister-related injuries have been reported, but an Oklahoma State University extension office was destroyed in Tillman County, in the southwest part of the state.

Storm survey teams will be analyzing the damage today to determine the storms' strength on the Enhanced Fujita tornado damage scale. The last EF-2 or stronger tornado to hit Oklahoma in November was in 1987, according to the Weather Channel.

"We have survey crews going out today and they're going to verify that all those tornadoes were confirmed before we send out our reports," Austin told OurAmazingPlanet.
Tornado Alley's picturesque tornadoes are formed by the collision of warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico and cool, dry Arctic air. Yesterday, Oklahoma had quite a bit of moisture in the air, combined with lots of instability due to temperatures in the mid-70s Fahrenheit (around 21 Celsius), and a good bit of wind shear, the change in wind direction over a short height.
"It was pretty much typical of what you would see with any tornado outbreak," Austin said.
To form a tornado, the warm air rises and hits the wind shear and creates the rotation — think of a pinwheel with air pushing in opposite directions on the top and bottom. Below the pinwheel, a cap of warm air bottles up surface heat below about 10,000 feet (3,000 meters).
Heat builds until it punches through the cap, triggering a thunderstorm. With enough air shooting up and down, the pinwheel is knocked on its side, creating a huge rotating mass of clouds called a mesocyclone — the hallmark of a tornado-spawning supercell storm — from which a funnel cloud can shoot down.
Several apparently distinct twisters were captured on videos posted to YouTube. One twister had a "beavertail" and another twister had a classic "stovepipe" funnel, said the Weather Channel's Greg Forbes.

A beavertail shoots out of the bottom of a funnel cloud where the storm is sucking in air that is warm and moist — in other words, unstable — Austin said. Moisture yesterday even poured over the mountains in southwest Oklahoma, then condensed and formed tails in wall clouds, the low, rotating clouds that can spawn tornadoes.

The outbreak marked the first big action of the second-tornado season, which usually hits hard in Dixie Alley in the late fall, southeast of the well-known Tornado Alley.

More severe weather has been forecast for the Plains today, from Springfield, Mo., to southwest Louisiana.

NEWS - KEEP AN EYE ON THE SKY : HUGE ASTEROID TO SNEAK BY EARTH TODAY

2011-11-08T15:32:00.000-04:00

Keep an eye on the sky: Huge asteroid to sneak by Earth today

By Mike Wehner, Tecca

As we reported on last week, an aircraft carrier-sized asteroid is currently hurtling towards a close encounter with our planet that will take place later today. The giant rock's visit — which is expected to make its flyby at around 6:28PM EST on November 8 — is highly anticipated by scientists and researchers all over the world.
Named 2005 YU55, the asteroid is approximately 1,300 feet wide, and while it's not necessarily a colossus by NASA's standards, its remarkably close flyby is what makes it unique. YU55 will travel within 201,700 miles of Earth, bringing it closer to our planet than the moon is. NASA has long since ruled out the possibility for an impact, and advanced radar scans of the asteroid's movements have provided peace of mind that the rock won't return to our area for at least the next century.
If you're hoping to catch a glimpse of the rare near-miss, you'll be able to do so with the right equipment. A naked-eye viewing won't be possible, as the rock is expected to be quite dim during its pass. However, NASA estimates that those with high-powered telescopes will be able to see YU55 as an illuminated dot moving from west to east. The guide below, created by Sky & Telescope, should give stargazers a good idea of where to cast their eyes later tonight.

HELPED START A BLOG UP FOR MY BESTIE/BEASTIE TAMMY (SPENCER)

2011-11-08T15:07:00.000-04:00

we were having a conversation about stuff, and i mentioned she should keep a blog online.
where she can post the images of her family up and then talk about the event, like i do (if she feels thats how she wants to run it)
and i offered to start it up for her.
made the account, set the background, posted a couple of blogs of images..
which got me to thinking, as i sat there and went through all these details with her...
how i could be getting paid to do this for people.
setting up blogs for them to use..
same premiss as the web design idea...(i seem to keep coming back to this all the time, helping people make web presences on the internet)
setting up the blog through blogger, also shot me to create for her a google+ account, which self feeds the images from the blogs into folders on there for safe keeping.

i also told her if i could scan her images i could take and uplod some to a photbucket account in the event that the disk id make for her would get lost, or scratched, she could just request another set of images from them, since they would be stored there.

seriously...i could make this into a living and be charging people for my time and energy...

something to think about..

in the mean time, tammy has a blog now, so she can post about her family, thats tied into a site called NETWORKED BLOGGED so that it will feed her blogs to her FaceBook account for everyone to see and go join the blog site if they want too...
also made sure those individuals we both know from church im connected to on Google+ was added to the circled on her Google+ account.

CONGRATS TAMMY! HAVE FUN BLOGGING! :)
love ya!
MICHELLE

NEWS - TONY-WINNING DIRECTOR JULIE TAYMOR SUES PRODUCERS OF 'SPIDERMAN'IN FED COURT FOR COPYRIGHT INFRINGMENT

2011-11-08T10:36:00.000-04:00

my band cant catch a break with this investment of song writting for this play, saying it one more time, bono...NEVER VENTURE INTO THIS GENRE AGAIN! youve dont it, no need to revisit this again. just saying. MICHELLE

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Tony-winning director Julie Taymor sues producers of 'Spider Man' in fed court for copyright infringement

Producers: We're happy to let courts decide if Taymor wronged

BY Barbara Ross
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

November 8 2011, 7:22 PM

Axed Spidey director Julie Taymor is casting a new web — and in this one the producers who booted her from the now-hit show are the villains.

Taymor filed a million-dollar copyright infringement suit Tuesday, charging the money men behind the comic book musical cheated her out of royalties, and stole her work.

The Tony winner was booted from "Spider Man: Turn off the Dark” after spending years fine-tuning the accident-prone show and writing the book.

After critics savaged it, Taymor was unceremoniously shown the door.

Taymor's lawyer, Charles Spada, said his client, who won a Tony as director of the Broadway version of The Lion King, spent more than seven years creating the musical but was paid just $150,000 for her labor.

Producers Michael Cohl and Jeremiah Harris deny they owe Taymoranything.

“The production has indeed compensated Ms. Taymor for her contribution as a co-book writer,” they said in a statement. “The court system will provide, once and for all, an opportunity to resolve this dispute.”

Taymor’s 71 page lawsuit says the show routinely pulls in more than $1.4 million a week as ticket holders shell out $100 per seat.

Spada said the producers "violated Ms. Taymor's creative rights as an author" of the show.

"Ms. Taymor continues to support the talented and hardworking cast and crew, and she remains proud of her creative work on the production for over seven years, not only as an author, but as the director, mask designer, and collaborator, " Spada said.

Taymor got support last June from her union, the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, which filed an arbitration claim against the producers in June to protect Taymor’s rights and compensation.

U2 band mates Bono and the Edge, who created the score for the comic-book musical, recruited Taymor in 2002 to work on the adaptation.

MY LIFE IN WORDS , PICS, SONG LYRICS & VIDEO

ARTICLE - A GORILLA LOVE STORY

QUOTE -OPPORTUNITY - Henry Ford

NEWS - FEARS RESEARCH MONKEYS ARE ILLEGALLY TAKEN FROM WILD

Fears research monkeys are illegally taken from wild

Richard Baker, Nick McKenzie

NEWS - WHITNEY HOUSTON (R&B/POP SINGER) DIES AT AGE 48

Singer Whitney Houston dies at 48

NEWS - TINY PRIMATE 'TALKS' SECRETLY IN ULTRASOUND

Tiny primate ‘talks’ secretly in ultrasound

February 12, 2012

NEWS - RAPID URBANISATION PUTS LIVES OF MONKEYS IN DANGER

Rapid urbanisation puts lives of monkeys in danger

NEWS - ORPHANED BABY CHIMP IS ADOPTED BY ANOTHER MOTHER AT ZOO IN INCREDIBLE TALE OF COMPASSION AMONG OUR PRIMATES

Orphaned baby chimp is adopted by another mother at zoo in incredible tale of compassion among our primate cousins

NEWS - MYSTERY MONKEY FINDS HOME IN ST. PETE

Mystery monkey finds home in St. Pete

Feb 11, 2012

ODD THINGS I THINK ALLOT ABOUT - DOUBLE DECKER BUS CONVERSIONS

NEWS -PRIMATE PALACE OPENS AT AUSTIN, TEXAS ZOO

Primate Palace opens at Austin Zoo

By Ben Wear AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

NEWS - NEWBORN GORILLA MAKES HIS 1st APPEARANCE AT GULF BREEZE ZOO

Newborn gorilla makes his first appearance at Gulf Breeze Zoo

Public suggests names for gorilla

NEWS - FACEBOOK GRAFFITI ARTIST DAVID CHOE FROM HOMELESS TO MILLIONS

Facebook graffiti artist David Choe, from homeless to millions

NEWS - ZOO GORILLA KIMANI PREDICTS PATRIOTS TO WIN SUPER BOWL AFTER LITLE JOE BALKS (would be interesting to see if he picked right, lol)

NEWS - GORILLA TO PREDICT SUPER BOWL WINNER

Gorilla to predict Super Bowl winner

NEWS - BONOS 'ELEVATION PARTNERS' AMONG HOLDS SHARED ON FACEBOOK STOCK...(Told My Husband We Should Invest, BONOS THERE!)

Bono’s Elevation Partners among holds share’s of Facebook’s stock

NEWWS - U2s BONO INSPIRED BRAD PITT TO BECOME A HUMAINITARIAN

U2’s Bono Inspired Brad Pitt to Become a Humanitarian

A Famous Gorilla Plays The Recorder, And We All May Learn Something

NEWS - FLORIDA ZOO ASKS FOR HELP NAMING BABY GORILLA

Gulf Breeze Zoo asks for help naming baby gorilla

The name that baby gorilla contest is on.

NEWS - GORILLA BORN AT FLORIDA PANHANDLE ZOO

posted on Thursday, 02.02.12

Gorilla born at Florida Panhandle zoo

The Associated Press

NEWS - NEXT 'SURVIVOR' CAST TO INCLUDE TWO FROM SOUTH CAROLINA

Thursday, Feb. 02, 2012

Next ‘Survivor’ cast includes two from SC

NEWS - PUBLIC ART PLAYS ROLE IN TRANSFORMATION OF DOWNTOWN INTO TOURIST DRAW

Public art plays role in transformation of downtown into tourist draw

BY STEVE LACKMEYER Published: January 31, 2012

QUOTE - Joan Boryenko

ARTICLE - CHASING THE DRAGON..AND THE MONKEY...AND THE ROOSTER

Chasing the Dragon...and the Monkey and the Rooster

Updated: 2012-01-29 10:22

By Han Bingbin (China Daily)

The Chinese zodiac's 12 animal signs are always popular symbols in both East and West. And when the Lunar New Year arrives, enthusiasts all over the world are eager to get their hands on the best collections. This year, the focus is on stamps. Han Bingbin reports.

NEWS - 2 SMALL EARTHQUAKES RECORDED IN OKLAHOMA

Two earthquakes recorded near Prague

The U.S. Geological Survey reports that two quakes hit near Prague about 5:30 a.m. Sunday. The earthquakes were about 43 miles from Oklahoma City.

NEWS - ROBERT HEGYES, 'EPSTEIN' FROM "WELCOME BACK KOTTER" DIES.

Robert Hegyes, Epstein from ‘Welcome Back Kotter’, Dies

QUOTE - NOT EASY -By: Arthur Williams

NEWS - MOVIE SHOT IN OKLAHOMA CITY AREA TO SCREEN IN BRICKTOWN

Movie shot in Oklahoma City area to screen in Bricktown

NEWS - KEVIN DURANT FILM SEEKS EXTRAS ON OKLAHOMA CITY!

Aww, man! id do this in a heartbeat! i had a blast filming for 10 days on the set (as an extra) for the movie The Program in Columbia, SC...would be pretty awesome to be considered again for another movie to add to my portfolio of 'EXTRA' Cast Member ...:) MICHELLE

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Kevin Durant film seeks extras in Oklahoma City

QUOTE - 'UNTIL' By: James Baldwin

PEOPLE I KNOW WHO MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN YOUR WORLD - TEACHER HIGH ON ROMNEY : EVA ADDISON

Sunday, Jan. 15, 2012

Teacher high on Romney

NEWS - u2s 'SPIDER-MAN MUSICAL' MAKES BRADWAY HISTORY

U2's Spider-Man Musical Makes Broadway History

MAIDEN TRIP TO OKNRAIL TRAIN CLUB MEETING

NEWS - EARTHQUAKE REGISTERED IN OKLAHOMA COUNTY

Earthquake registered in Oklahoma County

The quake was centered about 3 miles northeast of Choctaw, 3 miles southeast of Jones and 5 miles east of Nicoma Park in Oklahoma County.

HOME DECOR -NEW (Used) COUCH

NEWS - 2 SMALL EARTHQUAKES RECORDED IN OKLAHOMA

2 small earthquakes recorded in Oklahoma by USGS

PRAGUE — Two small earthquakes have been recorded in Oklahoma by the U.S. Geological Survey. No injuries or damage are reported.

BY STEVE LACKMEYER
Published: January 31, 2012

PRAGUE — Two small earthquakes have been recorded in Oklahoma by the U.S. Geological Survey.
No injuries or damage are reported.