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Hachi – A Dogs Tale

isak — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 03:18:56 +0000

This evening, I watched the movie, Hachiko, based on the true story of a dog whose bond to his human companion lasted for more than a decade after they last saw each other. It’s the story of a dog born in 1923 in Japan.

Definitely a tear-jerker, but a wonderful movie.

[image from wikimedia] Here’s the Amazon.com review: Based on a true story from Japan, Hachi: A Dog’s Tale is a moving film about loyalty and the rare, invincible bonds that occasionally form almost instantaneously in the most unlikely places. College professor Parker Wilson (Richard Gere) finds a young Akita puppy that’s been abandoned at the local train station, and he’s instantly captivated by the dog. Assuming the dog’s owner will return to the train station to claim him in the morning, Parker takes the puppy home overnight. But when no one comes to get the dog, Parker convinces his wife, Cate (Joan Allen), to welcome him as part of the family. He dubs the puppy Hachiko — Hachi, for short — because of the Japanese symbol for good luck that’s hanging from his collar. Hachi is a somewhat peculiar dog that refuses to learn to fetch or master other people-pleasing tricks, but he is a faithful companion and friend to Parker, alerting him of potential dangers and accompanying him to the train station each morning and meeting him there after his return trip each evening. An unforeseen event will continually test Hachi’s devotion. This film is neither overwrought nor sappy; it is heartfelt and immensely powerful despite its tendency to drag in a few places. Prepare to be moved to tears by this beautiful, seemingly simple film–it’s about so much more than just the relationship between a man and his dog. –Tami Horiuchi

Film review: Hachi: A Dog’s Tale (guardian.co.uk)
The 8 Most Heroic Dogs In History (brainz.org)

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It’s always something…

isak — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 13:56:27 +0000

I am quick to say that I don’t watch much tv. I think tv is more often a habit than anything else. Aside from most things PBS (my equivalent to cable), I watch few programs: Ellen for the simple, hardy belly laughs, Grey’s Anatomy for the characters and Brother & Sisters for the family relationships. Oh, and Nightline — something I have been a fan of for many years; even prior to the platform change.

TV is mostly background noise for me. If my house is too quiet, the dogs will hear things that are miles away and get distracted by it. Generally the background noise is music. I plug the iPod into the stereo dock on my way to the coffee pot each morning, usually select the option to shuffle the songs and let it run until bedtime. As though that is not enough, I sometimes go to bed with the iPod plugged into my head. I select an album to play to slow my brain and generally fall asleep before it’s done.

A few days ago, I tried to turn the tv on, but no luck. Nothing happened. Was it the hairball on top of the tv causing the problem? I tried a few things, walked away confused, returned to try a couple more things and again walked away confused. However, after a brainfart, I think I may know the answer. I think the same cat barfed a hairball into the digital tuner thereby shorting out any digital service to my tv. Damn!

I went to WalMart yesterday looking for a new tuner, but they don’t sell them anymore. Don’t sell them anymore? They were stocked in huge piles months ago (or was that a year ago?) just before the conversion to digital tv and now it’s like it never happened. They suggested a few places I might check, but I didn’t have the time yesterday to chase “mights.” So I am home again and tv-less. Perhaps I can keep up with what I like via the computer.

When you live with animals, you can quickly realize how unimportant most material things are (except for my iPod and my computer). Years ago, one of my dogs, Brie, found that the glue in the binding of some very old books was very tasty. She chewed it from the backs of 3-4 books printed in the 1920s. They were from a collection my mother had as a child. It was the complete collection and they WERE in mint condition.

Once eaten, there is little you can do but utter a few choice words under your breath and move them. And so it goes here at the bit-by-bit ranch… it’s always something.

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Edie – rescued an hour before euthanasia

isak — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 03:53:10 +0000

from Hope for Paws
Edie was so scared at the shelter and was scheduled to be euthanized yesterday. She was so lucky to have Bronwyne visit the shelter and save her life. I just helped with calming her down and showing everybody how these dogs can be easily managed with a little bit of love and patience. Please help save more animals by making a small $10 donation. Website: http://www.hopeforpaws.org

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Passion. What happens when it crashes?

isak — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 18:04:14 +0000

People are often admired for their passion to a cause, a belief, an idea; respected even.

But what of the passions that fail, falling short of their mark, their goal. Where does that energy go?

I am in the throes of just such a failure (though my friend Viktor would tell me it is not a failure, but an outcome).

I compare it to a car traveling down the road at a high rate of speed heading straight for a tree. At this point, the front end of the car has already wrapped itself around the tree and its momentum has gone from 90 to nothing in an instant. However, the back end of the car is still moving forward, still anticipating the crash but unable to do much about the inevitable.

Looking at it from that perspective, I can better see that my continued efforts to prevent a very bad crash are long past. Best to make what I can of what I have left.

Being the optimist that I am — a “utopian” as a friend used to call me — I am hoping that perhaps the rear of the car will survive the collision so that all the momentum to this point will not have been in vain.

Those screeching brakes so often heard just before a big crash? That is my passion and my energy screaming to not be stopped in it’s tracks, to not die. Perhaps I can separate the back of the car from the rest of the car and it can be useful somewhere else.

Passion is powerful and passion is addictive. It is sometimes blind. It is the round peg in the square hole that pushes the envelope of what is often complacent normalcy. We owe a debt of gratitude for the minds that think with passion.

It need not always crash into nothingness. And it need not be viewed as failure… it is simply an “outcome.”

I shall live to fight another day, and I shall continue to act with passion, bruised as it is right now, but intact.

I have not lost everything in this crash.

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Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels…

isak — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 13:20:20 +0000

Here’s to the crazy ones.

The misfits.
The rebels.
The troublemakers.
The round pegs in the square holes.

The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo.

You can praise them, disagree with them, quote them, disbelieve them, glorify or vilify them.
About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them.
Because they change things.

They invent.
They imagine.
They heal.
They explore.
They create.
They inspire.
They push the human race forward.

Maybe they have to be crazy.
How else can you stare at an empty canvas and see a work of art?
Or sit in silence and hear a song that’s never been written?
Or gaze at a red planet and see a laboratory on wheels?

While some see them as the crazy ones, we see genius.
Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.

[The original "Long version" appeared on posters made by Apple. Apple folklore has it that Steve Jobs was the author of the original piece.]
………………………………………………………..
Hug a rescuer. Donate to animal advocacy. Join Let’s Adopt!

Let’s Adopt (USA): http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=205025950458

http://us.myletsadopt.com/

Let’s Adopt! (Canada): http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=101251555667

http://canada.myletsadopt.com/

Let’s Adopt! (France): http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=199271522813

http://france.myletsadopt.com/

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Day 13. What to do with myself?

isak — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 21:48:46 +0000

Every morning for two weeks, I have jumped on the computer first thing to see what needs to be done to roll out the message for the day’s campaign. It gets written, translated, passed along the appropriate paths, messaged, posted, tweeted… a process of some hours and certainly a tad more complicated than just suggested.

So it’s Day 13…. nothing to do right now but wait to hear what the judge says at the end of the day.

Ever seen a photo of monarch butterflies at the end of their migration? Their wings are torn and tattered; they are pretty beat up. That’s how I feel.

Martin Luther King said: Never be afraid to do what’s right, especially if the well-being of a person or animal is at stake. Society’s punishments are small compared to the wounds we inflict on our soul when we look the other way.

In this case, I think both a person and an animal are in need; for me, I could not look away.

I am so grateful for all the people that felt the same.

Thank you for the opportunity to work with such great people. I live to fight another day… hopefully with you all by my side!

Un besos all! Ciao.

The judge has granted an adjournment so Francesca Rogier can have Brindi assessed by a dog behavioralist. Court resumes April 16, 2010.

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Day 12. Time is up for Brindi.

isak — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 17:31:21 +0000

Tomorrow the judge will decide her fate.

The only thing we can do now is to spread this post as far and wide as possible using all means necessary. ” Awareness that leads to action” has been the tone of this campaign.

Make Brindi’s voice heard today.

Share it on Facebook, Twitter, email… whichever network you are a member of.
…………………………………..
reprinted from Let’s Adopt! Canada

There’s still time — Please help us send Brindi home to Francesca. One way to do more is write the Province’s Premier — leave a comment on the Premier’s webpage (mid way down) at http://www.gov.ns.ca/premier/.

Also email the Province’s Ombudsman (ombudsman@gov.ns.ca )

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Related posts:
Day 9. Brindi. The Naked Truth

Day 5. The reason for Brindi’s Countdown

Day 8. Brindi. Social Media Saves Lives

Day 11. True Justice

isak — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 22:18:29 +0000

The judge will take a decision on Brindi’s life on Tuesday, March 9 at 9.30 hrs.

She has three options:
1. Ordering the Killing of Brindi.
2. Leaving Brindi at the SPCA forever or rehome her to a third party.
3. Brindi returns home to her owner, Francesca Rogier.

It is our firm belief that the only decision that will serve true justice is the sparing of Brindi’s life and her return to Francesca Rogier.

The killing of Brindi or handing her to a third person would serve nobody’s interests and obviously, Brindi’s even less.

Either of those outcomes will do nothing other than irreparably damage the image of Halifax and destroy Mayor’s Kelly reputation forever in the eyes of hundreds of thousands of people.

It would also cast a serious doubt over the judiciary system of Nova Scotia.

Imparting true justice is a very difficult task and this is why judges are held in such high regard in democratic societies. This authority is not God-given; it is granted by all of us as individuals.

Judges are there to deliver true justice, whether it serves the interest of the minority or the majority, the rich or the poor, the locals or the naturalized citizens or, in this case…

… a dog.

Viktor Larkhill

Let’s Adopt
…………………………….
reprinted from Let’s Adopt! Canada
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Related posts:
Day 10. City of Halifax red-faced on tape

Day 9. Brindi. The Naked Truth

Day 7. Brindi: A wrong proposition

Day 10. City of Halifax red-faced on tape

isak — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 01:11:55 +0000

Here you will hear the conversation between one of the members of Let’s Adopt! (South Africa), calling from Johannesburg and Miss Mary Ellen Donovan, Legal Advisor to Mayor Peter Kelly of the city of Halifax.

This will help you understand the problems Brindi and Francesca Rogier have been suffering during the last 19 months.

This recording is for entertainment purposes only and cannot be used for any purposes in any legal proceedings.

Pls share this post on your profiles.

It is time for Brindi to go home and to be reunited with her owner, Francesca Rogier.

If you are in Canada please CALL Mayor Peter J. Kelly, Mayor of Halifax on ph: 902-490-4010 and tell him that Brindi must be spared AND returned to her owner.

If you are abroad please email kellyp@halifax.ca and express the same… We have 4 days.…

For Brindi

For the Animals

Viktor Larkhill
Let’s Adopt!
………………………………………………………
reprinted from Let’s Adopt! Canada
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Related posts:
Day 3: The words of a child

Day 9. Brindi. The Naked Truth

Day 11. True Justice

Day 9. Brindi. The Naked Truth

isak — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 19:12:59 +0000

In five days, Brindi’s owner will go before the judge for sentencing in her case. The city of Halifax wants to euthanize Brindi, having found Francesca Rogier guilty in early February, 2010 of owning a dog that: ran at large, was not muzzled and attacked another dog (along her property line).

Wow! Death for being a dog — and there were no injuries to either dog. The city contends that two previous attacks (also along the property line and also short-lived scuffles) classify Brindi as a “dangerous dog.” Yet in the 586 days they have illegally held Brindi in impoundment, they have never registered her as dangerous or required Francesca to license her as such.

Illegally held? Yes. The Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM) cited various reasons and legislative provisions as the grounds and purpose for holding Brindi, none of which could be verified by Rogier’s counsel. Time limits set out in the Summary Proceedings Act are initiated upon the “day of seizure.” The Act states that “nothing shall be detained … for a period of more than three months … or for any longer period that ends when an application made under clause …”. HRM has made no applications.

Let’s Adopt! Canada has created a wonderful campaign to reach out to people with the message that Brindi should be returned to her owner. And the people of Halifax, Canada and around the world are voicing their outrage at this injustice.

We have been given homework to do this weekend: During the weekend speak to at least 10 people in your community about Brindi’s case. Share the facts, spread the absurdity of it all, and ask them to spread the news in their own personal circles. Discuss it with your friends, with the shopkeeper, at the gym, with your mates whilst out drinking… have the truth about Brindi and the Halifax City Government spread like a virus worldwide.

I hope you will join us. Make a phone call, send an email, be heard!

It is time for Brindi to go home and to be reunited with her owner, Francesca Rogier.

If you are in Canada please CALL Mayor Peter J. Kelly, Mayor of Halifax on ph: 902-490-4010 and tell him that Brindi must be spared AND returned to her owner.

If you are abroad please email kellyp@halifax.ca and express the same… We have 5 days.…

Our sincere thanks to Let’s Adopt! Canada for their generous support.

And remember: “Never doubt that a small group of committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” ~ Margaret Mead
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Related posts:
Day 3: The words of a child

Day 10. City of Halifax red-faced on tape

Day 7. Brindi: A wrong proposition

beingstray.com

Hachi – A Dogs Tale

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It’s always something…

Edie – rescued an hour before euthanasia

Passion. What happens when it crashes?

Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels…

Day 13. What to do with myself?

Day 12. Time is up for Brindi.

Day 11. True Justice

Day 10. City of Halifax red-faced on tape

Day 9. Brindi. The Naked Truth