Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

TUGS and LOVE

Be Still my Heart


Doyle confirms portions of Depp movie to be shot in state

Mastiffeagle

Courtesy oh The Onion

WI Humane Society Benefit



The Social is having a benefit for the Humane Society on Friday night and the roller derby team, the Brew City Bruisers, are waitressing & donating tips. This should be a fun way to support the Wisconsin Humane Society!

Do Statistics Lie?

"In addition, public opinion data indicate Americans at least understand that it is socially unacceptable to voice negative sentiments about blacks or women in the White House. Just 5% told Gallup pollsters that they would not vote for a black, and 11% said they would withhold support from a woman.

Such was not always the case. In 1958, 53% admitted to Gallup that they would be unwilling to support an African American and 41% would refuse to back a woman. Even today, voters appear comfortable confessing certain prejudices -- 24% claimed they would not vote for a Mormon, for instance; 42% would not vote for a 72-year-old, and 53% would oppose an atheist."

Rest of the article is @

OMG!

Beepster - Is this our Starbucks?


Coffee break for Starbucks' 135,000 baristas
Coffee chain to close all 7,100 stores for employee training.
Dunkin' Donuts offers 99 cent promotion.

February 26 2008: 8:09 AM EST
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Warning to Starbucks junkies who usually get a fix on their way home from work: You're out of luck on Tuesday.

Starbucks, which last week announced 600 layoffs, plans to temporarily close its 7,100 U.S. stores on Tuesday for three hours of employee training.

The coffee chain said the in-store training program which will begin at 5:30 p.m. local time, would foster enthusiasm in its 135,000 U.S. employees and improve the quality of drinks made by Starbucks baristas.

"We believe that this is a bold demonstration of our commitment to our core and a reaffirmation of our coffee leadership," said chief executive Howard Schultz in a statement.

Stores that normally stay open beyond 8:30 p.m. will resume service after the training session is finished.

But for those who still need their afternoon dose of caffeine, there is a cheap alternative.

Dunkin' Donuts - "to ensure that no coffee lover is denied a delicious espresso-based beverage" - announced that it will offer small lattes, cappuccinos or espresso drinks for a promotional price of 99 cents on Tuesday from 1 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Starbucks (SBUX, Fortune 500) has seen rising competition from privately-held Dunkin' Donuts and McDonalds (MCD, Fortune 500) recently, and welcomed founder Schultz back as CEO in January after a lackluster performance by the company in the latter half of 2007.

Starbucks lays off 220 employees

Starbucks puts the brakes on new stores

Chili Dog Farmer @ it Again! aka Joe Fidel - More

Titles, read left to ride, and scrolling down:
Wolfguy, yeti, gumboy, mess, turtlesrule, and snakeman






Monday, February 25, 2008

Chili Dog Farmer @ it Again! aka Joe Fidel

Check out the show at



Dog Shoes

We just have to figure out how they keep the shoes on.....





From the AP:

German police dogs to wear shoes

Mon Feb 25, 4:14 PM ET

Police dogs in the western city of Duesseldorf will no longer get their feet dirty when on patrol — the entire dog unit will soon be equipped with blue plastic fiber shoes, a police spokesman said Monday.

"All 20 of our police dogs — German and Belgian shepherds — are currently being trained to walk in these shoes," Andre Hartwich said. "I'm not sure they like it, but they'll have to get used to it."

The unusual footwear is not a fashion statement, Hartwich said, but rather a necessity due to the high rate of paw injuries on duty. Especially in the city's historical old town — famous for both its pubs and drunken revelers — the dogs often step into broken beer bottles.

"Even the street-cleaning doesn't manage to remove all the glass pieces from between the streets' cobble stones," Hartwich said, adding that the dogs frequently get injured by little pieces sticking deep in their paws.

The dogs will start wearing the shoes this spring but only during operations that demand special foot protection. The shoes comes in sizes small, medium and large and were ordered in blue to match the officers uniforms, Hartwich said.

"Now we just have to teach the dogs how to tie their shoes," he joked.

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Bob's Brilliance

JUST LIKE TOM THUMB'S BLUES
(Words and Music by Bob Dylan)
1965 Warner Bros. Inc
Renewed 1993 Special Rider Music

When you're lost in the rain in Juarez
And it's Eastertime too
And your gravity fails
And negativity don't pull you through
Don't put on any airs
When you're down on Rue Morgue Avenue
They got some hungry women there
And they really make a mess outa you

Now if you see Saint Annie
Please tell her thanks a lot
I cannot move
My fingers are all in a knot
I don't have the strength
To get up and take another shot
And my best friend, my doctor
Won't even say what it is I've got

Sweet Melinda
The peasants call her the goddess of gloom
She speaks good English
And she invites you up into her room
And you're so kind
And careful not to go to her too soon
And she takes your voice
And leaves you howling at the moon

Up on Housing Project Hill
It's either fortune or fame
You must pick up one or the other
Though neither of them are to be what they claim
If you're lookin' to get silly
You better go back to from where you came
Because the cops don't need you
And man they expect the same

Now all the authorities
They just stand around and boast
How they blackmailed the sergeant-at-arms
Into leaving his post
And picking up Angel who
Just arrived here from the coast
Who looked so fine at first
But left looking just like a ghost

I started out on burgundy
But soon hit the harder stuff
Everybody said they'd stand behind me
When the game got rough
But the joke was on me
There was nobody even there to call my bluff
I'm going back to New York City
I do believe I've had enough

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Never Trust Anyone Under 30

(dog years, that is)

Juxtaposition

State of the Union Address and Ground Hog Day


This is a year when both Groundhog Day and the State of the Union address occurred in the same week.


And as it has been pointed out, "It is an ironic juxtaposition of events: one involves a meaningless ritual in which we look to a creature of little intelligence for prognostication, while the other involves a groundhog.

Wednesday, February 06, 2008

CPR to Baby Tiger


German Mom Administers CPR to Baby Tiger

Johann, a four-month old tiger at a zoo in the German city of Halle nearly choked to death Thursday on a chunk of meat.

A medical student visiting a Halle zoo on Thursday used CPR to rescue a baby tiger choking on a piece of meat. The cub survived -- making him just the latest carnivore cub in Germany to be saved by human hands.

First came Knut, then Snowflake fever (more...). Both baby bears would have died if humans hadn't stepped in. But Germany's recent obsession with fuzzy white cubs might be just the tip of the iceberg.

The German penchant for saving infant carnivores from certain doom spread to a new, striped species of megafauna on Thursday, when a 24-year-old woman visiting a zoo in the city of Halle leapt into a cage to resuscitate a baby tiger choking on a piece of meat.

Janine Bauer was watching the zoo's big cats with her son, Johann, when the four-month old tiger began to choke. "The little baby tiger was gnawing meat off a bone. All of a sudden he couldn't breathe and lost conciousness," said Bauer, according to the daily newspaper Bild.

A zookeeper rushed to the cub's side, but his hands were too big to pull the offending strip of steak out of the young tiger's throat. So Bauer, a medical student, left her one year-old son in his stroller and rushed into the enclosure.

She was able to pull the 10 centimeter chunk of meat out of the tiger's windpipe, but he did not regain consciousness on his own. So Bauer performed CPR on the cub, using heart massage to jump-start the young tiger's pulse and locking lips to chops to breathe air back into his lungs.

"It was like just like an infant," said Bauer. "It took four or five endless minutes, but then the tiger was growling again."

In gratitude, the zoo's director announced that the tiger would be named Johann -- just like Bauer's son.

From this news-source

Monday, February 04, 2008

Furries being cuddly

and, yes, contrary to their expressions they love it!