On October 17, 2013, our pal, Mystique, an eleven-year-old German Shepherd dog died. Our hearts were broken.
Two weeks later, unbeknownst to us at the time, Southeast German Shepherd Rescue found a six month old, mange-ridden, sick and starving female German Shepherd dog somewhere down in Mississippi.
The lady who rescued the dog proclaimed her the second sickest dog she'd ever rescued. She wasn't sure the dog would live. Neither was the vet. But she did live. She was treated for mange, gained weight, and in January of 2014, was moved from Mississippi to North Carolina, a more centralized location for possible adoption.
Her story touched the hearts of many who followed her journey on Facebook. Requests for a suitable name went out over Facebook, and she was named Holiday Hope.
Many families wanted to adopt Hope, but we were the lucky ones. In late January, 2014, we drove to North Carolina and brought Holiday Hope home with us. Given Hope's journey, one can only imagine what went through her mind as two strangers drove away with her.
But all is well that ends well. Next Friday will be Hope's second Christmas with us. Along with our son, his wife and our grandchildren, she is one of our greatest treasures. On paper, we rescued Hope, but in reality, she rescued us.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of Growltiger's readers.*
*If any of you want to play a tiny part in saving another dog like Holiday Hope, please consider giving to Southeast German Shepherd Rescue. (For those who wonder at the address in MN, suffice it to say -- she moved but continued being treasurer of the organization).
SGSR Treasurer
PO Box 416
Osakis, MN 56360
Saturday, December 19, 2015
Monday, February 9, 2015
Gaseous Giant: A Movie Review
Written and directed by the Wachowski siblings who used to be the Wachowski brothers until one of them became a girl, Jupiter Ascending ascended onto the Multiplexes on Friday just as the planet Jupiter reaches its closest approximation to Earth. One is a gas giant; the other is just gaseous.
The story – hard to find a plot amidst the explosions and special effects – centers around Jupiter Jones (don’t ask) a young toilet cleaner (please don’t ask) who lives in Chicago. “Jupe” as she refers to herself once, is played by Mila Kunis, an actress who shows some comic flair in a couple of scenes, but mostly is a big-eyed, homely girl in a pony tail who is called upon to scream, fall through space and dress in outlandish costumes (one of which has her wearing what looks like a New Age Christmas tree atop her head). That's when she isn’t hanging onto Channing Tatum while he skateboards through the air in a pair of anti-gravity boots which leave silver streaks as a wake.
When Jupe signs up for big bucks to have her eggs harvested at a fertility clinic, little does she realize the doctors and nurses are really creatures who look like they escaped from the Independence Day space ship. Or that they aren't there to harvest her eggs but rather to rub her out.
Before the ETs can do in our heroine, hero, Channing Tatum, shows up and wipes them out instead. Channing is a “splice” a human with human and wolf genes as evidenced by pointy, elf ears, and a third, unidentified species. Channing’s character once had wings, but was de-winged (by whom and why is not clear) because he once lost control of himself and tore out someone's throat. Spoiler: Channing gets his wings back at the end and he and Jupe (who inherited his gravity defying boots) go flying, skate-boarding across the Chicago skyline. No word on whether NSA picked them up. Or NASA for that matter.
The usually excellent Eddie Redmayne is one of three nefarious sibling villains whose deceased mother, like a distaff King Lear, divided up her kingdom (the universe) between cachectic Eddie, his sneaky but handsome brother and their 14,000 year old sister. Mama was 90,000 years old when she died. She might have lived longer had she not been murdered. (Spoiler: Eddie did it). In the only significant and/or memorable line in the two hour film (it felt more like four), a character explains time is the only wealth worth having. It turns out these ageless miscreants achieve eternal life by harvesting fresh DNA from the planets they "mine". Earth is Eddie's and he is not about to give it up.
After saving Jupe from the malignant ET's, Channing takes her to his friend, Stinger, played by Sean Bean, whereupon Stinger's bees identify Jupe as royalty. It turns out bees are genetically capable of identifying royals which is why Jupe has never been stung. Whether this applies to all bees or just Stinger's bees is not clear.
After a few more attacks and explosions and a trip to Jupiter (the planet, not the character) on a space ship that looks like a metal wasp, the totally confused audience learns that Jupiter (the character) is really Eddie Redmayne's mother. Yep, she's a "Recurrent" which means Mommy Dearest has been reincarnated, rejuvenated and now that she's back, Earth and the rest of the universe belongs to her again which leaves her three bratty kids out of luck.
Most of the dialogue, like the film itself, is silly and superficial, but like all good Hollywood propagandists, the Wachowskis manage to slip in The Liberal Tell. For those who don’t know what The Liberal Tell is, it is a phrase coined by John Nolte who points out that Hollywood somehow manages to slip leftist propaganda (The Liberal Tell) into most movies: Capitalism is bad, socialism is good, business is corrupt--as Yul Brynner's King would say "et cetera, et cetera, et cetera". Naturally, the nefarious trio in "Jupiter Ascending" are capitalists, who, unlike Hollywood's limousine liberals, are out only for a profit.
The story – hard to find a plot amidst the explosions and special effects – centers around Jupiter Jones (don’t ask) a young toilet cleaner (please don’t ask) who lives in Chicago. “Jupe” as she refers to herself once, is played by Mila Kunis, an actress who shows some comic flair in a couple of scenes, but mostly is a big-eyed, homely girl in a pony tail who is called upon to scream, fall through space and dress in outlandish costumes (one of which has her wearing what looks like a New Age Christmas tree atop her head). That's when she isn’t hanging onto Channing Tatum while he skateboards through the air in a pair of anti-gravity boots which leave silver streaks as a wake.
When Jupe signs up for big bucks to have her eggs harvested at a fertility clinic, little does she realize the doctors and nurses are really creatures who look like they escaped from the Independence Day space ship. Or that they aren't there to harvest her eggs but rather to rub her out.
Before the ETs can do in our heroine, hero, Channing Tatum, shows up and wipes them out instead. Channing is a “splice” a human with human and wolf genes as evidenced by pointy, elf ears, and a third, unidentified species. Channing’s character once had wings, but was de-winged (by whom and why is not clear) because he once lost control of himself and tore out someone's throat. Spoiler: Channing gets his wings back at the end and he and Jupe (who inherited his gravity defying boots) go flying, skate-boarding across the Chicago skyline. No word on whether NSA picked them up. Or NASA for that matter.
The usually excellent Eddie Redmayne is one of three nefarious sibling villains whose deceased mother, like a distaff King Lear, divided up her kingdom (the universe) between cachectic Eddie, his sneaky but handsome brother and their 14,000 year old sister. Mama was 90,000 years old when she died. She might have lived longer had she not been murdered. (Spoiler: Eddie did it). In the only significant and/or memorable line in the two hour film (it felt more like four), a character explains time is the only wealth worth having. It turns out these ageless miscreants achieve eternal life by harvesting fresh DNA from the planets they "mine". Earth is Eddie's and he is not about to give it up.
After saving Jupe from the malignant ET's, Channing takes her to his friend, Stinger, played by Sean Bean, whereupon Stinger's bees identify Jupe as royalty. It turns out bees are genetically capable of identifying royals which is why Jupe has never been stung. Whether this applies to all bees or just Stinger's bees is not clear.
After a few more attacks and explosions and a trip to Jupiter (the planet, not the character) on a space ship that looks like a metal wasp, the totally confused audience learns that Jupiter (the character) is really Eddie Redmayne's mother. Yep, she's a "Recurrent" which means Mommy Dearest has been reincarnated, rejuvenated and now that she's back, Earth and the rest of the universe belongs to her again which leaves her three bratty kids out of luck.
Most of the dialogue, like the film itself, is silly and superficial, but like all good Hollywood propagandists, the Wachowskis manage to slip in The Liberal Tell. For those who don’t know what The Liberal Tell is, it is a phrase coined by John Nolte who points out that Hollywood somehow manages to slip leftist propaganda (The Liberal Tell) into most movies: Capitalism is bad, socialism is good, business is corrupt--as Yul Brynner's King would say "et cetera, et cetera, et cetera". Naturally, the nefarious trio in "Jupiter Ascending" are capitalists, who, unlike Hollywood's limousine liberals, are out only for a profit.
Wednesday, January 28, 2015
An American Woman in the Middle East
Michelle Obama who sometimes is sartorially challenged made America proud when she accompanied the President on his trip to Saudi Arabia to condole with the Kingdom on the death of its King.
Mrs. Obama emerged from Air Force One conservatively and tastefully dressed in long pants and a flowing, long-sleeved jacket, but without the headscarf which made past first ladies like Laura Bush and politicians like Condoleeza Rich, Hillary Clinton and Nancy Pelosi look like sycophants to the Muslim Moonbats who seem to have something against women in general and women's hair in particular. America does not ask Muslim women remove their babuskas when in our country; therefore, it is only reasonable that American women wear our traditional dress when visiting or living in theirs. Of all the women mentioned above, only Michelle Obama has had the courage to be an American woman in the Middle East.
For those who don't keep up with Seventh Century news and fads, Saudi Arabia practices an especially severe form of Islam which in spite of beheadings, shootings, bombings and floggings, politicians as disparate as George Bush and Barack Obama refer to as the "Religion of Peace".
Democrats who berate Republicans for conducting a War on Women because the latter don't think companies who oppose abortion ought to be required to hand out abortion pills to employees, are silent about Saudi females being denied certain operations unless given permission by a male relative. Democrats who savaged Mitt Romney for asking for a binder of females who might be candidates for executive positions never seem to point out Saudi females cannot travel without a male relative's permission. That, friends, is a war on women!
President Obama harangues the United States about slavery which ended in 1865 and racial segregation which ended a hundred years after that apparently has no problem with the Religion of Peace segregating by gender which usually ends up with women being subservient to and dependent upon males. He and Attorney General Holder howl about American police stopping African-Americans for "driving while black", but don't remind Americans that females of any race or nationality cannot drive at all in Saudi Arabia.
So the First Lady's quiet, subtle, tasteful attire on her visit to Saudi Arabia showed a courage no American male or female of either party has shown before
No doubt she will reap criticism from America's Islam appeasers for not covering her hair, but this American is quite proud of her.
Mrs. Obama emerged from Air Force One conservatively and tastefully dressed in long pants and a flowing, long-sleeved jacket, but without the headscarf which made past first ladies like Laura Bush and politicians like Condoleeza Rich, Hillary Clinton and Nancy Pelosi look like sycophants to the Muslim Moonbats who seem to have something against women in general and women's hair in particular. America does not ask Muslim women remove their babuskas when in our country; therefore, it is only reasonable that American women wear our traditional dress when visiting or living in theirs. Of all the women mentioned above, only Michelle Obama has had the courage to be an American woman in the Middle East.
For those who don't keep up with Seventh Century news and fads, Saudi Arabia practices an especially severe form of Islam which in spite of beheadings, shootings, bombings and floggings, politicians as disparate as George Bush and Barack Obama refer to as the "Religion of Peace".
Democrats who berate Republicans for conducting a War on Women because the latter don't think companies who oppose abortion ought to be required to hand out abortion pills to employees, are silent about Saudi females being denied certain operations unless given permission by a male relative. Democrats who savaged Mitt Romney for asking for a binder of females who might be candidates for executive positions never seem to point out Saudi females cannot travel without a male relative's permission. That, friends, is a war on women!
President Obama harangues the United States about slavery which ended in 1865 and racial segregation which ended a hundred years after that apparently has no problem with the Religion of Peace segregating by gender which usually ends up with women being subservient to and dependent upon males. He and Attorney General Holder howl about American police stopping African-Americans for "driving while black", but don't remind Americans that females of any race or nationality cannot drive at all in Saudi Arabia.
So the First Lady's quiet, subtle, tasteful attire on her visit to Saudi Arabia showed a courage no American male or female of either party has shown before
No doubt she will reap criticism from America's Islam appeasers for not covering her hair, but this American is quite proud of her.
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