Frog Blog:

Here's to impermanence...

hamster_pie — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 05:17:05 GMT

My housemate was diagnosed with lung cancer three weeks ago. She's 68 and this is her third round. First was melanoma in her 30's, the second bout called for part of her colon to be removed last year. Now she has a tumor the size of an apple in her lung and attached to the chest wall and there is another tumor near one of her ears. I didn't know about that one until I spoke with her son last week. I think she's been trying to keep this whole ordeal low key, but you can't really keep this kind of stuff on the down low. She started chemo and radiation last week. Radiation will be once a day M-F and chemo will be three times a week. They are trying to shrink the lung apple before they crack her chest open and remove it. She's been living at her son's for a week now, since our place is 45 stairs up on the third floor and the treatments make her really tired. If her kids have their way, she'll move out of our place and stay in the East Bay where they can look after her. She's fiercely independent and It makes me sad to think she might be losing her independence as well as having to live so far away from all the regular things in her life. She's lived in SF for over 45 years. I've never been this close to someone going through cancer treatment and it's making me very sad.

These people should be anally electrocuted or gassed and skinned.

hamster_pie — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 22:44:38 GMT

http://www.fur-style.com/en/promotions/celebrities/?season=30&model=4028&cHash=eda87178a2 Why you say? Watch the entire thing. http://www.tierschutz.com/movies/pelz_quicktime_high.mov (this is just one example.....) http://www.onevoice-ear.org/english/campaigns/fur/chinchillas.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fur_farming "Most mink are killed by gassing, using either carbon dioxide or carbon monoxide.Carbon dioxide can kill animals quickly when used at 100 per cent concentration, but it is known to cause extreme stinging and burning of the nose. Observations of mink killed by carbon dioxide have shown that they run around the gas chamber frantically and struggle to keep their heads above the level of the gas. A report on euthanasia produced for the European Commission's Environment Directorate concluded that carbon dioxide 'should not be used in diving animals such as mink because of their ability to hold their breath. The European Commission's Environment Directorate report condemned the use of exhaust gas as a form of euthanasia." "Foxes are most commonly killed by electrocution. This is done by inserting one electrode into the animal's rectum and another into its mouth. While electrocution can cause death rapidly, the stress from the capture and restraining of foxes to perform this inevitably causes a great deal of suffering." Ref: http://www.gan.ca/campaigns/fur+trade/factsheets/fur+factory+farming.en.html It's really hard to keep fighting when the world is this fucked.

Cheesy photo again....

hamster_pie — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 19:38:12 GMT

What I would look like as a Saint....awesome....

For those who claim to care about the earth....

hamster_pie — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 00:01:12 GMT

Watch this. Watch it in it's entirety. Don't turn it off when it gets uncomfortable for you. You owe it to your fellow earthlings to sit through this. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1282796533661048967 http://www.isawearthlings.com/ Screw all the hybrid cars you drive and recycled toilet paper you use. What you do to the rest of the creatures on the earth matters the most, whether is it by your own hand or by what you choose to consume. And for those who buy "happy animal" products, you are sorely deluding yourself to think that there is an ethical way to exploitation and mass murder.

Air Guitar madness....

hamster_pie — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 04:25:28 GMT

So I did it. I said I would compete and I practiced and sweated and was nervous as hell...but it was so much fun. I was surrounded by amazing friends and gave a pretty darn good performance. I got third place. The other performers were pretty awesome too and it was such a cool thing to be a part of. I'm totally going to do it next year and I hope to have DA and Glenny Kravitz there too! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BIPMFd3tnQ More videos to follow.

You can't save them all....

hamster_pie — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 01:16:07 GMT

I posted this on another blog of mine and a friend suggested I share it here. Sorry it isn't one of those "feel good" posts. Yesterday was my second volunteer day as a reserve animal control officer in training. I got to ride with an owesome AC officer. She is a cool person and a natural teacher, very thorough in her explanations of processes we need to follow. I hope to work with her again because I know I can learn a lot from her. The first two calls were dead wildlife pickups, one of which was a skunk who's smell permeated everything in the van even though he was in a plastig bag and in the back compartment. The third was to check on a dog in a yard that a neighbor thought might be left in the rain. It turns out everything was fine and the family was about to go on a road trip so they were letting the dog out before they left. The last call was pretty horrific for the faint of heart, something we could never have forseen. An anonymous call was made about some skinny looking dogs in a backyard in Sunnydale. The man who answered the door was not the owner of any of them, but his daughters were. Looking through the back sliding glass door we could see a pit bull (unaltered), a daschund with his ribs showing and a medium sized chihuahua (also thin), all happy and wagging their tails. The two smaller dogs belonged to one daughter and the pit bull to another. My guess is this guy was looking after his daughters dogs in a very minimal way, putting food out in the backyard and not bothering to give proper portions or see that the larger dog was eating it all. The skinny daschund is peering through the glass at us, licking the metal screen and wiggling it's boney torso, happy to have some kind of attention. The man is more concerned with who made the call than the fact that the two smaller dogs were malnourished. There was also a hole in his fence and the dogs were roaming into the neighbors yard. The lead officer asked the man to repair the hole in the fence while we were there and a decision was going to be made whether or not to take the pit bull into custody so she could be spayed (it is now mandatory in SF to spay/neuter pit bulls). At this point I'm standing in the front doorway while the man is in the backyard screaming at his dogs to come into his yard so he can plug the hole. I thought his screaming was pretty severe and I hear a commotion with the dogs, high pitched barking that at first I thought was coming from another block (there are a lot of dogs in that neighborhood) but it turned out to be the sound bouncing off the fence. The man calmly walks through his place, past me to go and knock on his neighbors door. He comes back over to his door, passes me and says calmly "I think I know who made the report now" and proceeds to call someone on his cell phone. His neighbor comes over and says "I've been calling you for days. That dog killed a dog." What we didn't know was that RIGHT THEN the pit bull had attacked and killed the daschund RIGHT THERE in her backyard. The man's screaming at the dogs was because he SAW what was happening. He never said anything to me or the lead officer while he was watching the entire thing happen in his neighbors backyard. We rush over through her apartment to the backyard to see the mangled body of the daschund taking his last breaths (we later find out his name is Dean) and the pit bull covered in blood, wagging it's tail. The chihuahua was back over in the man's yard. Thinking there may be some hope or simply wanting to end the suffering as soon as possible, the lead officer leashed the pit bull, I took the leash while she grabbed the daschund and we hurried for the truck. Considering the circumstances, we also needed to take the innocent chihuahua named Mister Lewis. He was able to ride on my lap while we made our way across town to the emergency shelter. Mister Lewis was nervous at first but settled onto my lap, which I must say gave me a little comfort through this whole ordeal. He had probably just watched his best friend die and both of us needed a little solace. Now some people might think the pit bull was solely to blame in this situaion. I do not agree. This dog did not appear to be a fighting dog and was not being aggressive in the slightest. My guess is that the lack of proper feeding for the dogs made it possible for one to behave in a way that animals do when "survival of the fittest" mode kicks in. The old and the weak are attacked and killed by their own pack members sometimes so that more food is available for the fitter of the group. i believe this horrible situation could have possibly been avoided if the animals were being fed properly (proper portions and being separated when fed). Who really knows though. The pit bull will be euthanized. Dean the daschund didn't survive the trip to the emergency hospital. He died in a dark metal cage in the back of a van. One minute he was looking at me and wagging his tail. Less than 5 minutes later he was a torn and bloody heap in the dirt. Mister Lewis will probably be picked up by his owner who now has one less dog. Mister Lewis the elderly chihuaha will now have all the food to himself.

It's my birthday.

hamster_pie — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 00:47:24 GMT

I was hoping for some hot makeout action. But I'll settle for a fancy dinner at Millenium. Here is some cute animation. It is no reflection on my sex life at the moment. Really, it's not. http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/bunny.php

Tha radio show ist happening..today 10am-noon pst

hamster_pie — Fri, 16 Feb 2007 17:32:56 GMT

Where: Theoryradio.org What: more 80s music than you can shake a piece of poo at.. Who: me, my grumpy self and I Why: because I like to listen to myself whine Yee Haw?

Jerky's 15 minutes of fame...

hamster_pie — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 21:24:57 GMT

Her story is in the Marina Times this week, page 11. There are a lot of inaccuracies, but I guess that's journalism right? Unfortunately there isn't an online copy of the story and I don't think the pdf I have is legible, but I'll include it anyway. The article states that I had a problem with the name Jerky because I'm vegan and so she's now called Girlie. What I actually said was ironically I didn't mind the name Jerky, it was so many other people who were complaining that she should have an "uplifting" name. I honestly don't think she understands what Jerky means. I think the tone I use it is all that she needs to feel good about herself. That article also gives props to Tribe.com...ahem, and this is something he emailed to ask me about, which I told him it's Tribe.net, but that's not a big deal. It also says that she still may end up for adoption, which the "addendum" I sent him to my old Tribe post states she is now living happily in the Mission. Sigh...I just emailed them to tell them to let people know she has a home, because I know those Marina folks are going to have their heart strings tugged on by the story and might flood the paper with emails "how can I adopt the poor thing?" Jerky is totally taken care of. They should try adopting a homeless mom with kids to make themselves feel better. Actually, I should have thought the whole thing through when I was interviewed and asked the reporter to include a request for some nice rich folks to offer us a cheap (haha, I know) spacious apartment so my housemate and I can stop living like veal calves. If you don't know how veal calves live, check this out: http://www.freefarmanimals.org/gallery/vealcow17.htm I know, it's an extreme analogy, but I'm like that. I'm not an anti-Marina living person. I loathe the stereotype, that's all. Don't we all?

Reverend Billy kicks ass...

hamster_pie — Sun, 04 Feb 2007 06:43:05 GMT

There were two actions in NYC today that I didn't find out about until today because I haven't been checking my various emails as regularly as I should. Not that I could have gone anyway..but I like to pass on information to people. Stupid Starbucks is at it again: http://poorfarmer.blogspot.com/ http://www.gothamist.com/archives/2007/01/30/can_rev_billy_s.php ...something those of us in SF can relate to, rent hikes we can't afford that force us to move...My housemate and I were evicted 2 years ago from her place (of which she'd spent 30 years)...and Cafe International almost had to leave it's space in the Lower Haight because of the jackass landlord...It sucks to live in a city where I will never be able to own a place of my own...but I love this place... http://www.revbilly.com/

Let's hear it for Fair Use...

hamster_pie — Fri, 02 Feb 2007 05:01:11 GMT

This is rad: http://fhwang.net/art/uiuvnse-archive.html

Me and Pee Wee Herman...

hamster_pie — Tue, 23 Jan 2007 21:15:34 GMT

Last night was a hoot. Went to see Paul Reubens interviewed by Ben Fong-Torres at the Palace of Fine Arts. Sadie and I had made about 70 bowties to hand out to the audience...they were a hit. I ran into old boss from Mission Pet Hospital, and the lovely Ggreg Taylor and some more kids who do Paul Reubens Day each year (http://www.paulreubensday.com/). It was a really in depth interview and super funny. Afterwards there was a swanky afterparty in North Beach. Mr Reubens was really cool to everyone. For the most part people weren't too mob-like. A friend of mine was hired as his personal "bouncer" for the evening, but it was all low key. I made some small talk with Mr Reubens and he *may* email me. Ha. Who knows.

Jerky with Santa

hamster_pie — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 02:10:52 GMT

Well, they didn't feel like re-framing the shot so it cut her off at the chest. You can't see her nice blue sweater that everyone thinks is hand knit. They took another photo of her on santa's lap with her ears flat and looking uncomfortable. Everyone was remarking on how calm she was for the whole ordeal. There were some hyper dogs there, makes me so glad she is who she is.

West Memphis Three Awareness Week Nov 13-17....and ongoing....

hamster_pie — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 17:41:35 GMT

Three young boys were murdered in West Memphis Arkansas in 1993 and shortly after three young men (Damien Echols, Jessie Misskelly and Jason Baldwin) who looked different and listened to metal music were arrested and convicted (with NO physical evidence) for the murders. They have been sitting in prison ever since. Shockingly enough, Damien Echols has been sentenced to death. One of the young men was questioned under duress and forced to admit to the murders even though the "facts" he gave did not match with the evidence. Townspeople who initially came forward saying they were sure the three committed the murders have recanted saying the police pressured them to make false statements. There is evidence that the "confession tape" was tampered with. Several documentaries have been made about this, Paradise Lost 1 and 2 and Devil's Knot. Damien Echols has written a book about his experience. Please check these out and contribute what you can to the awareness and continued court battle for these innocent men. http://www.wm3.org

Pet Pride Day with Jerky and Dia De Los Muertos

hamster_pie — Sat, 04 Nov 2006 00:03:31 GMT

Last Sunday was the Pet Pride Day event sponsored by Pet Camp and Animal Care and Control and although I hate the possessive term of "pet", Jerky and I still went anyway. It was her first social event and there were many dogs to smell and many treats to be had. So many in fact that Monday she had a strange orange colored poo and several extra piles of it due to the people who kept giving her dog cookies all darn day. We came away with a lot of good samples of food, treats and shampoo and the In Defense of Animals was giving out vegan ice cream sandwiches as people treats. It was freezing that day, but I'll be damned if I'm going to turn down free vegan ice cream. Jerky picked the sweetest pit bull in the world to play with at PPD. He is deaf and looking for a special home through Rocket Dog Rescue http://www.rocketdogrescue.org/pages/adoptioncenter26.htm He is a total lap dog too. It was a great day of socialization for Jerky and she was great off leash while I helped at our feral cat rescue information table. We didn't go out at all for Halloween and I didn't bring her to the Dia De Los Muertos procession last night either. I really don't approve of dogs being forced to be crammed in street faires or processions when the music is loud and all they have to look at are knees and worry about getting their toes stepped on. Not cool. I saw some nervous canines there and felt bad for them. I don't have a photo of Jerky to add right now. This photo is from the Devo concert last Saturday. My lovely friends Stephanie and Rebecca are with me.

SHE BARKED!!!

hamster_pie — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 17:48:49 GMT

Last weekend was a milestone for Miss Jerky. She finally found her voice! I had been taking her to the park all last week because I had two other dogs in my care. She was able to see the same dogs several times a day and start understanding what the heck dog parks are all about. It was clear that she has been a working dog and had no clue about running around willy nilly in a park and having a zillion other dogs sniff your butt. At first she would just stand there and stare at me for direction and I kept telling her "go play" and swinging my arm out to the open area. Well, she finally decided to take me up on the suggestion and issued a very sharp bark while running around a couple of the other dogs. Very quickly after she came back to my side and looked at me as if to ask "Is this ok?". Of course it's ok! So, we went to the beach and barked on Saturday and then again at the park on Sunday. Pretty darn cool. It's great because it's not inappropriate barking. She only does it when I encourage her to play and that's fine by me. She got another bath on Tuesday at Pawtrero Bath House and Feed Co on Mississippi St. It's a really great woman owned place. Whoopie.

Jerky update!

hamster_pie — Thu, 12 Oct 2006 01:03:45 GMT

She passed her checkup today with flying colors! The doctor said her skin is looking great and the only thing I need to do right now is some physical therapy with her left rear leg. Since the skin is tighening up as it heals we don't want her to lose her range of motion. I asked her if she could have a proper bath now and the doc said yes....AND...I asked if we could go to the beach so she could run and he said YES! YAY! I can't wait. The only thing I'm concerned about is the foofy snotty dog people looking at her like a mangy mongrel. I may have to kick some yuppie butt.

Jerky is sleeping on the bed now...

hamster_pie — Fri, 06 Oct 2006 00:55:44 GMT

I looked at her underside with a flashlight last night (it's hard to see because it's way up on her inner thighs) and the raw bits are getting smaller and smaller. I'm glad she has a little flab down there to help close things up. The places are visibly shrinking and becoming nice pink skin. Due to a scheduling screw up we had to skip this weeks re-check, but she's doing so well I don't feel bad about missing it. She has two new shirts, donated from the Pawtrero Bath House and Feed Co. one says "on the eighth day God created golf courses" and the other says "hug me, squeeze me, make me wine". Very cheesy shirts, but they are proper dog shirts and I don't have to tie them in a knot at the back to keep them from tripping her and dragging the ground. This week she's been getting up a lot and visiting people in the kitchen. She used to hate the kitchen (the linoleum floor I think) but now she knows that's where the food comes from. Her meat man Dave X brought her bacon and turkey this week. It was raining last night and this morning and now she has a nice wet dog odor going on. I can't wait to give her an aloe or oatmeal bath when she's all healed! See everyone at the Decompression if you can make it early in the day!

Jerky's first doctor visit in SF

hamster_pie — Wed, 27 Sep 2006 20:15:51 GMT

Her re-check with Dr Maretzki at SF Vet Specialists went great. He said she's healing up extemely well and will probably not need a skin graft. Big relief there! I hadn't really considered anything like that. The doc took her around to meet the other specialists in the back so they would know her if she needed to come in for anything else. She's off anti-biotics for now and he said I don't need to use the silver cream anymore. She just has some "as needed" pain meds and a topical anti-biotic for a pesky spot on her elbow that wasn't healing well. Of course everyone loved her there! Everywhere she goes everyone loves her. Two cool things to mention: she hasn't had to wear her e-collar (the dreaded cone) since her first day out of the hospital! I put it on her if I have to leave her for a couple of hours, just in case she gets bored and wants to go to town on one of her spots, but she doesn't need it at night or anytime during the day. The other cool thing is that she played for 20 second yesterday! I was taking her out for a pee behind the office and I hunkered down in play stance and she did the same and then we both kind of trotted for a few feet. It was so great to see her a little happier and lively. At this rate I'm probably going to have her with me for a few hours at the Decompression so she can meet her fans and hang out. I'm working from 4-8pm so it will probably be 2-3pm that she's there. This photo is from Saturday 9/23. Her raw spots are definitely shrinking!

Jerky is now in San Francisco!

hamster_pie — Fri, 22 Sep 2006 20:45:40 GMT

The whole hospital was circled around us as the doctor explained her meds and cream to me and everyone gave Jerky a goodbye kiss and head scratch before we left. It was sad that Susan, Jerky's favorite tech, wasn't working that day. We took photos though, so you had one of me and Jerky. It is so nice to know that she was loved by everyone there and all of the staff are amazing people. Jerky did excellent in the car ride back from Reno. She's a very good car rider, which some dogs aren't, so she was able to settle in and sleep a little. She still has very tender skin and some large oozy raw spots on her so she's uncomfortable sometimes but I have a soft blanket set up everywhere she goes so she can try and relax. So far this week she has met other dogs and even cats and has been fine with them. We spent a few minutes at Duboce park yesterday morning but she wasn't up for She hasn't had to wear her e-collar (the dreaded cone) during the day at all. I'm really glad she's not interested in licking or scratching. I even left the cone off last night and she slept through the night. My housemate loves her and her dog pretty much hangs out but ignores anything but food and treat moments. Last night she got a long sponge bath to get some of the gunk off her bad spots and she took her famous stoic stance through the entire thing. This morning we had to take a cab to get to work (I hate cab drivers by the way) and poor thing was jostled the whole way and just stared at me the whole time with those eyes...I felt horrible for her having to endure that kind of driving in her condition. We have an appointment with one of the specialists at SFVet Specialists next week for her first re-check since she left the hospital in Reno. I'll let everyone know what the specialist says next week. The photo is Jerky's first gift, a dog-dana (dog bandana)made by Lisa Schile's mom. It's so sweet!

Jerky visit yesterday!

hamster_pie — Sun, 17 Sep 2006 06:17:21 GMT

A very huge THANK YOU to everyone who has donated for Jerky's vet bills. I think I have half of them covered right now and that is so amazing. The outpouring of help and kind words from the community is just so rad. I had no idea what I was getting myself into...but I just knew I had to make sure she was going to be ok and worry about the other things later. I was able to see Jerky for about an hour yesterday. When I came in she was out of her kennel getting some scabs and dead skin picked off. Fun Fun. She was in her usual stoic stance, not moving a bit. I held her head and pet her while talking with her favorite person Susan (the tech) for a while about her skin and how she's doing. She still has some oozing spots on her sides and her hair is still all gone, so she wears t-shirts every day and of course the cone on her head. Susan said she has been wearing it so long she now knows how to navigate with it on througout the hospital. She will have to keep wearing it until she doesn't want to lick her burns anymore. Evidently she may not need as much space at home as I thought. Susan said they leave her door open after hours when there are only a few staff members there and she really doesn't want to be out much. Anytime she is out she seeks small spaces like the towel cubbard or under a table. Yesterday was an unusually chilly day in Reno, but we were able to go outside in the grass and spend some time together. I can't believe how incredibly sweet she is. I bought her a bed today, one that comes up on the sides so she feels more secure and keeps her warm. Dirtwitch, mommy to Lewis the Italian Greyhound, gave her a nice coat but we will have to see if it's going to fit her. It's soft fleece on the inside and nylon on the outside. She still has hair on her legs so we just need to worry about covering her torso. Monday is the big day. I pick her up and bring her back to SF. My life is going to change drastically but I'm not worrying about me anymore. It's all about her. I think the biggest problem is going to be getting to and from work with her since I don't have a car. The bus and walking are out of the question right now. My RV is still in the city so I may end up ferrying her back and forth in it until I figure something out. She'll get the royal treatment no matter what though. Sorry, no photo today. More later this week.

Jerky: The Burning Dog rescued from Black Rock

hamster_pie — Tue, 12 Sep 2006 23:21:20 GMT

Here's the reason my Burning Man was a little bit different this year. The week before the Burning Man event a very badly burned dog was found at the DPW depot. She wandered up to Dave X and nearly collapsed. Lisa aka Scarpus and I immediately took her to Reno where we thought she would most likely be euthanized. Instead, the doctor gave us a few options. Test for cancer, test her blood for some signs of disease and go from there. Wow, we thought. This little damaged creature didn't have to be immediately put down. We had a small amount of money together from selfless donations (gathered within an hour of finding her) and decided to put in more of our own give her a chance. She has been in ICU since August 23rd and it looks like she's going to make it. She looks like a horrible burn victim, everything on her torso looks like raw meat. The doctor has no idea what could have done this aside from her getting into some kind of caustic chemical or someone setting her on fire. They really have no clue. The doctors and techs are all amazed at how stoic and tolerant she is to all of the proceedures and treatments. They all remark at what an incredibly sweet natured dog she is. She has had much skin debriding (where they scrape off the dead stuff), and they apply human burn cream to her entire torso every day. She was on an MLK drip for pain (morphine, lidocane, ketamine) for two weeks and is now on oral pain meds and continues to be on a triple course of anti-biotics for infection. She has had a plasma transfusion and she's been given human serum albumin to help increase her blood proteins, which were dropping dangerously. I've learned more about hospital treatment from her than watching ER reruns at night when I can’t sleep. Dave X said “If she lives, you have to call her Jerky.” So that is her name. Her skin very much resembled chunks of beef jerky. Here are some photos of her: http://people.tribe.net/hamster_pie/photos (please ignore the silly blue haired person). I’ve been receiving email updates daily and this past week she has shown the most improvement, having been weaned off the IV pain meds. Her personality is really starting to come out and she’s moving around a lot easier. Until recently it has been extremely painful for her to walk. What is going to happen to Jerky? I am picking her up from the hospital in Reno this weekend and she will need home care until she is fully healed. I'm going to take that on. If my lifestyle isn't the best for her personality (herding dog), a few good folks have expressed interest in adopting her. Our community rocks that way. A very huge THANK YOU to those who gave money on the playa towards her medical bills. Sherry, being one of the sweetest people in the world, put out a donation jar in the Burning Man office in Gerlach too. The costs are a lot higher than expected. After finding out for sure that she can recover from this though, I was not about to put a price cap on her life. If anyone would like to donate to her, please let me know. My Paypal address is playafrog(at)burningman.com. I will be happy to provide copies of the bills so far. Please pass this along to anyone who would like to hear a rescue story with a happy ending.

So Craig won the US Air Guitar Championships....and is on to Finland!

hamster_pie — Fri, 11 Aug 2006 19:28:45 GMT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGxTbGfaS2Y http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/08/11/DDGB3KDF8681.DTL hahahahaha

Live and let die?

hamster_pie — Thu, 06 Apr 2006 19:20:43 GMT

So I received this email last night that disturbed the crap out of me. Let me preface this with the explanation that as part of my job I answer questions about animals in the desert, specifically animals at Burning Man. Now, while we specifically do not allow dogs, I was not allowed to make it a blanket "no non-human animals" at the event and it pains me each year to see people disregard the suggestion not to bring any animal....so...cats, ferrets, snakes, iguanas, and yes, chickens have made their way to the Burning Man event. I'm sure they have come home more enlightened creatures and have spread the Burning Man ethos to all their 4 legged, scaled and winged brethren....who knows, because THEY CAN'T TELL US HOW THEY FEEL. We may be able to project how we "think" they feel, but most of the time we are incredibly stupidly wrong. All I know is how to tell physical distress in an animal and I sure have seen a lot of that in the desert. So here is this email I received: > Hello- > > As part of my work this year, I am planning to bring 2 chickens to the playa. I am preapared to make a comfortable coop for them, and at the end, to kill and eat them. I am a vegetarian. > Will my chickens and I be turned away at the gate? Can I get a very loud WHAT THE F**CK! from the congregation? I sincerely hope this is a joke. I answered it as though it wasn't. Here is my response: Hi (name removed). Although our stated policy says "no dogs" there are many different reasons that you should not bring ANY animals to the Burning Man event. On a legal level, the health department is present at Burning Man because many camps serve food. There are certain health codes regarding the keeping of livestock and slaughtering animals and there may be regulations against ritual animal sacrifice. On a personal level, people come to Burning Man to celebrate life, pay homage to the Earth, their loved ones who have passed, to heal themselves from the negative effects of society...and many more reasons. There are children, sensitive people, real vegetarians (and vegans like myself) who attend Burning Man. For all of the horrible things Burners come to Burning Man to get away from, bringing murder to the playa is just plain inconsiderate to those around you. It would be great if you could find a more positive way to work through and express your personal or artistic visions on the playa, because the playa is a wonderful place for rebirth and growth. No, you can't bring chickens to the Burning Man event to murder. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I just can't think of anything witty to end this post with. Humans are messed up creatures. The broken link in the cycle of life.

If you hadn't eaten in 17 days....

hamster_pie — Fri, 17 Mar 2006 07:07:15 GMT

Tomorrow marks the 17th day 25 years ago that Bobby Sands went on hunger strike, along with 10 other prisoners in the H block at HMP Maze prison (also known as Long Kesh) in Northern Ireland. The prisoners demands were that they be given political prisoner status (which prisoners of their caliber had previously been classified as through the late 70's) and have the same rights thereof, which meant simple things like wearing their own clothes and being able to have regular family visits. Interestingly enough, during the middle of his hunger strike, he was elected as a Member of Parliament to a district in Northern Ireland winning out over the Ulster Unionist (British supporters) candidate. After 66 days, Bobby Sands was the first of 10 to die of starvation. Throughout the following months, nine other men were allowed to die by the British government. Here is his diary of the first 17 days of March 1981.... http://larkspirit.com/hungerstrikes/diary.html He was only 27 years old. This was 1981 for christ's sake. Depeche Mode's Speak and Spell album came out that year, Mtv aired for the first time, Pac Man came out....and 10 young men were starving to death for what they believed in.