Rocket was supposed to go to class this morning, but I overslept.
He's got a license, so I said, "Take yourself to school. I'm tired."
I guess he had trouble reaching the pedals.
Don't forget about the wine-soda tasting and pet adoption today (Saturday) at The Corner Store, 1118 W. 37th St. in San Pedro.
All proceeds go to the Bumper Foundation which will have pets there for adoption.
Tastings are from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. and from 4 to 6 p.m. There's also a jewelry sale and live entertainment.
Known to many as the lady who was chased by birds in Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds," actress Tippi Hedren is also a lifelong conservationist and big-cat rescuer.
I know this because I met her once a few years ago when she brought a sick tiger to a vet in Lawndale.
She called me a few days later to thank me for the article I wrote, something I crowed all over
the office about for days. (Get it? Crowed?)
Well, Tippi (I can call her that) will be in Torrance on Monday to meet with the South Bay Bird Society.
The event will take place at7:30 p.m. Monday at the Salvation Army, 4223 Emerald, Streeet.
For more information about the event, go here. To learn more about Tippi's Shambala cat preserve and the Roar Foundation that runs it, click here.
It seems like only five months ago that I wrote about the world's oldest gorilla. That's because it WAS five months ago.
Anyway, 55-year-old Jenny has died at the Dallas Zoo. I hope I make it to 55, but that's a lot of blogging I'll have to do.
The article described her as being sweet, but bossy. Except for the sweet part, that sounds just like MY boss. What else do Jenny and I have in common?
DALLAS - The oldest gorilla in captivity, a 55-year-old female named Jenny, has died at the Dallas Zoo -- her home for more than half a century, a spokesman said Friday.
Zoo officials decided to euthanize Jenny on Thursday night because of an inoperable tumor in her stomach. Jenny had stopped eating and drinking recently, and tests showed she was unlikely to recover, spokesman Sean Greene said.
Jenny's keepers described her as very sweet though a little bossy.
Trampolines!
Courtesy of The Pet Blog.
Stop by the Corner Store in San Pedro Saturday for a wine (and soda!) tasting, along with a dog and cat adoption. All proceeds go to the Bumper Foundation Animal Rescue and Adoption.
The "Taste of Autumn" will feature wines and sodas -- and even hummus -- for tasting ($15 for all or $5 for just the sodas), along with an artisan jewelry sale and the pet adoption.
The market is at 1118 W. 37th St. (just a block or two north of Paseo del Mar) in San Pedro.
And if wine, soda or hummus aren't your thing, the store also has a new menu and sells old-fasioned, hand-scooped malts and milkshakes.
There also will be live music by singer-songwriter Roz Esposito.
Tasting times are 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. and 4-6 p.m. The jewelry sale runs frmo 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Questions? Call Peggy at 310-832-2424.
A USA Today story this week reports that nursing and senior-living homes are increasingly rewriting the rules to allow pets to move in.
"People grow up with animals, have had them all their lives, and this is their home now, so why wouldn't they have pets here?" says Helene King, communication coordinator for Levindale Hebrew Geriatric Center and Hospital in Baltimore, one of 300 facilities worldwide operating under the "Eden Alternative" philosophy, which integrates animals, plants and contact with children into daily routines to keep the elderly engaged. "It makes such a big difference in their lives." .......
"Animals re-engage people with life," says Loren Shook, who decades ago saw the positive effect of animals on the patients at the psychiatric hospitals where his family worked. Now, as CEO of Silverado (senior living homes), he has instituted a must-have-animals policy at all 17 facilities. "Having animals in our facilities reduces depression and anxiety and reduces the need for psychotropic drugs by 35%."
(Above, Phyllis Cornish pets a Pomeranian named Dakota)
Photo: Jeffrey D. Allred for USA TODAY
OK, now everyone's jumping on the pet-theme election bandwagon. Make your pick: BarkObama? Or McCanine?
Yet another web site, pets vote, that's gotten into the act. But I wonder if cats can vote? (HT: Barkability.com)
