The First Official Portrait of TomRat

This if from The Gallery of the Absurd. Check it out!

This is a sneak preview of the "Celebrity Animals" project that Dlisted and Gallery of the Absurd collaborated on with ANIMAL magazine. ANIMAL challenged us to transform today's most popular tabloid celebrities into animals and you can see them all in the upcoming issue #7 due out in early June. See Paris, Nicole, Brangelina, Jessica, and Lindsay as you've never seen them before!

Pictured above is Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, aka TomRat, posing with their new baby girl. We wish them warm congratulations on their reincarnation of L. Ron Hubbard new addition to the family. Medium: Acrylic, ink and coffee on gorgeous paper I found at a garage sale with just a splash of digital enhancement.

Will this Find a Cure for Breast Cancer?

The Real McCoys!

Abby Sponsorship - for Heart Surgery

It’s not just cats that have nine lives anymore. We answered an urgent call from the Dearborn Animal Shelter in Indiana about a three-month-old puppy named Abby and her litter mates.

Because Dearborn Animal Shelter could not find a home for these dogs, they asked the Wisconsin Humane Society to help.

When the dogs arrived, it was discovered that they were suffering from Parvo, a virus that is often life threatening. They were immediately treated for the virus and slowly began to recover.

We discovered that one of the dogs, Abby, has a heart murmur, which was caused by a congenital heart defect. Further tests and treatment will need to be provided for Abby and she will need heart surgery in the future.

Open-heart surgery is required to repair Abby's fragile heart and that will be very expensive. Her new family will need to pay thousands of dollars and will need to provide Abby with long-term rehabilitative care.

The Wisconsin Humane Society needs help to ensure that resources are available to save this puppy's life.

We are looking for loving people to sponsor Abby and help with her medical costs while she is in our care. We need funds to maintain her current care. We are also looking for a loving family with the financial means to provide for Abby.

If you are interested in adopting Abby and making sure all of her medical needs are met, please contact WHS at 414-ANIMALS.

Funny dogs, it must be Wednesday

Lincoln's Assasination

THIS year, Good Friday, the day commemorating Christ's crucifixion, falls on April 14, as it did in 1865.

On that evening, in the balcony box of Ford's Theater in Washington, John Wilkes Booth fired a handmade .41-caliber derringer ball into the back of Abraham Lincoln's head.

Thomas Nast's 1866 painting "President Lincoln Entering Richmond" commemorating his surprise stroll into the capital of the Confederacy on April 4, 1865, shortly after Robert E. Lee's retreat...

What the Furries do when they are HOME ALONE!

Russ Feingold & Stephanie Miller?

Avon the April senior, adopt a dog

Avon
April 7, 2006

Thank you to my angel for showing support for animals in need. I am a nine-year-old boxer/beagle mix who is ready to become king of my new castle. There are many great animals at WHS who are in need of an angel of their own. Fill out the Sponsor Form to become an angel yourself!

Funniest Dog Videos - Don't Pee your Pants!

Funniest Dogs Ever!

PETA - Take care of Easter Bunnies!

Where do they get these words!

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Dongle

A dongle (pronounced DONG-uhl) is a mechanism for ensuring that only authorized users can copy or use specific software applications, especially very expensive programs. Common mechanisms include a hardware key that plugs into a parallel or serial port on a computer and that a software application accesses for verification before continuing to run; special key diskettes accessed in a similar manner; and registration numbers that are loaded into some form of ROM (read-only memory) at the factory or during system setup.
If more than one application requires a dongle, multiple dongles can be daisy-chained together from the same port. Dongles are not in frequent use partly because enterprises don't like to have a serial or parallel port preempted for this use.

Happy International Oop Day!

Famous birthdays on this special day:

1) Oleg Cassini, 1913
2) Ellen Goodman, 1948
3) Richie Sambora, 1959
4) Earl of Sandwich, 1943
5) Ethel Kennedy, 1925
6) Adriano Olivetti, 1901
7) Carla Ford, 1866
8) 1st deep freeze baby, in Australia, 1984
9) Viscount Buckmaster, 1921
10) Joel Grey, 1932
11) Johnny Sheffield, 1931

Sick Eye Balls for Soft Contact Wearers

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Lens solution linked to fungus outbreak
Manufacturer suspends shipments of ReNu, generic solution

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Bausch & Lomb voluntarily suspended shipment of a contact lens solution after federal health officials linked it Monday to a fungal eye infection that can cause temporary blindness.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is investigating 109 reports of Fusarium keratitis infection in patients in 17 states since June 2005.

Federal and state health officials have interviewed just 30 of those patients. However, of the 28 who wore soft contact lens, however, 26 reported using Bausch & Lomb's ReNu brand contact lens solution or a generic type of solution also made by the Rochester, New York, company.
Bausch & Lomb said it would temporarily suspend shipments of ReNu with MoistureLoc made at its Greenville, South Carolina, plant.

"The CDC data released today are both troubling and perplexing, as there is an apparent disproportionate representation of U.S.-manufactured ReNu with MoistureLoc in the underlying data. The source of these infections has not been determined," company chairman and chief executive officer Ronald Zarrella said.

Five of the 26 patients also reported using other types of solutions in addition to ReNu, Bausch & Lomb said. And nine said they wore their lenses overnight, which is known to increase the risk of infection, the CDC said.

Dr. Daniel Schultz, director of the Food and Drug Administration's Center for Devices and Radiological Health, said it was too early to determine if Bausch & Lomb's solution was the cause of the infections. Both the FDA and CDC are investigating a growing number of reports of infection by the fungus. An estimated 30 million Americans wear soft contact lenses.

"We are relatively early in this investigation. It may be we will find this particular product does not have an association. We may find a strong association," Schultz told reporters.

The fungus is commonly found in plant material and soil in tropical and subtropical areas. Singapore health officials noticed an increase in reports of infection in January and discovered 39 cases involving contact lens users from 2005 to February of this year. Cases have also been reported in Malaysia and Hong Kong.

In February, Bausch & Lomb halted sales of its ReNu contact lens solution in Singapore and Hong Kong.

Without treatment, which can last two to three months, the infection can scar the cornea and blind its victims. Eight U.S. patients have required cornea transplants.

Soft contact users with eye redness or pain, tearing, increased light sensitivity, blurred vision or discharge should stop wearing contacts and contact a doctor immediately, said Dr. Malvina Eydelman, director of the FDA's Division of Ophthalmic and Ear, Nose and Throat Devices. The FDA also advises users to wash their hands well with soap and water before handling lenses and to follow cleaning and storage guidelines.

In addition, contact lens wearers who use ReNu with MoistureLoc should do so with caution, the FDA said.

Who is nuttier?

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"While Hollywood awaits a due date for Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes' baby, one thing is already a known fact — when the baby does arrive, Scientology will play a major role.

Tom and Katie are likely to follow the church's "silent birth" guidelines during delivery, which means no music and no talking during the birth, which also means no screaming during the pains of labor."

well, I for one, remember as a young, foolish thing, that I thought the lamaze birth method would make labor a breeze...oh! short lived fantacy. Years later I vividly remember the feeling that my body was going to crack in half at the waist...butt and legs fall to the floor while torso, arms, and head remain on the birthing table....

I think we should have Tom go through labor - isn't he the super/action hero...Katie can almost be forgiven - she's young and under the influence of money and fame.

BrokeBack Mt and Jack and TUG

Jack A. Weil's roots run deep.

He was born in 1901, the year Orville and Wilbur Wright flew a glider at Kitty Hawk, N.C. It was the same year Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid robbed a train of $40,000 in Montana and construction began on the New York Stock Exchange.

Weil has seen a lot of history, and as he turned 105 on Tuesday, he's made a lot of history too.

The founder of Rockmount Ranch Wear is the oldest and longest-serving CEO in the country.

He celebrated his birthday by riding a horse-drawn surrey with three generations of Weils and Mayor John Hickenlooper, who presented Weil with a proclamation extolling his contributions and unveiled an honorary "Jack A. Weil Way" street sign.

Cartoon, it must be Friday

If only...

"Health care is an essential safeguard of human life and dignity and there is an obligation for society to ensure that every person be able to realize this right."

- Cardinal Joseph Bernardin, Chicago Archdiocese

Happy Bday Jack!

THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS
March 29, 2006
By Charlie Brennan, Rocky Mountain News

Clothier, 105, still going strong
Rockmount's Weil, who outfits the stars, celebrates birthday


Jack A. Weil, founder of Rockmount Ranch Wear, sits in the back of a horse-drawn carriage Tuesday, during a celebration of his 105th birthday in downtown Denver. Mayor John Hickenlooper renamed Wazee Street "Jack A. Weil Way" for the day.

Jack A. Weil celebrated his 105th birthday Tuesday the way he celebrates just about every other business day, heading down to Rockmount Ranch Wear Mfg. Co., which has been in business at the same location, 1626 Wazee St. in Denver, since 1946.

But it wasn't just another day at the shop, what with Mayor John Hickenlooper and a passel of dignitaries, friends and just plain folks on hand for the festivities.

Hizzoner read a proclamation honoring America's oldest active CEO and renamed Wazee "Jack A. Weil Way" for the day.

There was plenty of cake, sandwiches and other refreshments for everyone.

Even the sun shined warmly for the occasion.

Fellow living legends, including Bruce Springsteen, Robert Redford, Eric Clapton and Bob Dylan, have all worn Weil's trademarked western shirts with snaps over the years.

Weil, who came to Denver in 1928, doesn't go to motion pictures anymore.

So he hasn't seen Brokeback Mountain, the big-buzz movie of 2005 about a couple of Wyoming cowboys and their star-crossed love affair, starring Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal.

But the plaid shirt with diamond snaps and sawtooth pockets Ledger sports through much of the film? Rockmount style 69-39, for the record.

The stonewashed blue denim favored by Gyllenhaal? Also from Rockmount.

"I guess we're survivors in this business," was all the birthday boy would say when the movie was mentioned.

His grandson, Rockmount vice president Steve Weil, attended the movie's premiere, and said the film's costuming director had contacted him in advance to find out if he'd be comfortable with the characters sporting his wares.

"When I heard Ang Lee, Larry McMurtry, Heath Ledger, that's all I needed to know," said Steve Weil. "Whether it's everyone's cup of tea or not, this is art."

Between posing with his many well-wishers and endless snapping of pictures, Tuesday's honoree showed his head hasn't outgrown the Resistol hat that sat squarely on his head throughout the proceedings.

"Don't you think this is quite a thing for a country boy from Indiana?" he softly said, as he was assisted by Hickenlooper and his grandson toward an awaiting horse and carriage for a ceremonial ride down "his" street.

Weil was asked for his tips to longevity in business.

One was, "I made a rule that I wouldn't sell anyone over $5,000 (in merchandise) at a time, so they wouldn't own me. If I lost 'em, I wouldn't be out of business," he said.

According to his grandson, Weil's been hospitalized only a couple of times in his life, so there's clearly more to it than that.

There is, Weil admitted.

"I thank the Lord," he said.

Brennanc@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-892-2742

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