If it’s on the Internet, it’s gotta be true!

A while back I wrote a very “tongue-in-cheek” post about Dooley, my African Gray parrot.
The post was titled Dooley and the ice cube and was a humorous look at Dooley as he struggled to eat an ice cube. Complete with hilalrious photos it still makes me laugh and is one of my favorite posts.

The cool thing about this WordPress blog is that it gets indexed by all the search engines which leads to my posts showing up as results to various search queries. That means that people Googling search terms like “African Gray Parrot” or “Timneh” will stumble upon my posts about Dooley.

Apparently a gentleman named Bob over at Pecan Acres Pets stumbled upon my post about Dooley and the ice cube from just such a search and took to heart my statement about the migration of African Grays to Antarctica to feed on the ice.

He e-mailed me for more information about this behavior.

I did a google search for Greys and cold temperatures and the heading under your website name had the following:

Another little know fact about African Gray parrots is that every winter
they migrate to Antarctica to feed on life sustaining ice collected from
the…

Please tell me where I can find additional information about this?

Thank you,

Bob

Ok, I am NOT an authority on African Gray parrots. But it does not take a genius to know that these birds do not migrate to Antarctica. To make matters worse, Pecan Acres Pets is an outfit that SPECIALIZES in breeding and raising AFRICAN GRAY PARROTS…

They should know better!

I would have thought the joke obvious, especially after the line “African Gray parrots are sustained on a steady diet of french fries which grow wild and plentiful in the deepest jungles of Africa.”

It just goes to show that you can’t trust the Internet. Obviously my site is leading people astray with false information about the migratory behavior of African Gray parrots and it is apparent that Pecan Acres Pets needs to redefine “specialize”…

Día de los muertos (y viejos amigos)

I received an e-mail from my old friend Rich Davis indicating that his mother was in town visiting from Seattle.

Rich and I go back easily 30 years or so. We were inseparable best friends for a good portion of our adolescence. I knew his whole family and even lived with the Davis’s at one point.

It was good to see Mary. It’s been at least 15 years or so since I have seen her. She’s looking great! She had bypass surgery and has lost over 150 lbs and seems to be full of energy and great humor.

When people my age and older get together to reminisce the conversation quickly turns to what I call the “Litany of the Dead” where the two parties pretty quickly catch each other up on who’s no longer with us. I gave up the gory details on my little brother, my mother and my father who had all passed since we saw each other last and she filled me in on her husband, her mother and her daughter.

A grim but necessary conversation and ever so appropriate on this, The Day of the Dead.

Mary shared with me the story of how when her husband had died she had to make the decision to take him off life support. She expressed some of the agony that comes with making that decision and the doubt surrounding whether or not to try prolonging the life.

After he had passed she collected family members to go out and get some dinner. They went to a burger place and order some food and the most amazing thing happened when she received her change. She got this dollar bill (which she later had laminated):

Dollar of the Dead!

If you click it you will see a larger view and you can read the handwritten text which says:

“Today is the day that I died, a day that was one of the best”

It gave me chills just holding it. I call it the “Dollar of the Dead”. It’s not every day that the dead communicate so clearly. What a blessing!

Feliz Día de los muertos everyone!

Won’t somebody please think of the children?

Ripped from the Daily Mail in the UK.

For those interested, it’s still available online at Tesco Direct.

Tesco has been forced to remove a pole-dancing kit from the toys and games section of its website after it was accused of “destroying children’s innocence”.

The Tesco Direct site advertises the kit with the words, “Unleash the sex kitten inside…simply extend the Peekaboo pole inside the tube, slip on the sexy tunes and away you go!

“Soon you’ll be flaunting it to the world and earning a fortune in Peekaboo Dance Dollars”.

The £49.97 kit comprises a chrome pole extendible to 8ft 6ins, a ‘sexy dance garter’ and a DVD demonstrating suggestive dance moves.

The kit, condemned as ‘extremely dangerous’ by family campaigners yesterday, was discovered by mother of two Karen Gallimore who was searching for Christmas gifts for her two daughters, Laura 10, and Sarah, 11.

Mrs Gallimore, 33, of Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, said yesterday: “I’m no prude, but any children can go on there and see it. It’s just not on.”

Dr Adrian Rogers, of family campaigning group Family Focus said yesterday that the kit would “destroy children’s lives”.

He said: “Tesco is Britain’s number one chain, this is extremely dangerous. It is an open invitation to turn the youngest children on to sexual behaviour.

“This will be sold to four, five and six-year olds. This is a most dangerous toy that will contribute towards destroying children’s innocence.”

He added: “Children are being encouraged to dance round a pole which is interpreted in the adult world as a phallic symbol.

“It ought to be stopped, it really requires the intervention of members of Parliament. This should only be available to the most depraved people who want to corrupt their children.”

Tesco today agreed to remove the product from the Toy section of the site, but said it will remain on sale as a Fitness Accessory, despite the fact that the product description invites users to “unleash the sex kitten inside”.

Also on sale on the Tesco website is a strip poker game, “Peekaboo Poker” which is illustrated by a picture of a reclining woman in underwear.

The card game is is described as a game that “risks the risque and brings a whole lot of naughtiness to the table.

“Played with a unique pack of Peekaboo Boy and Girl playing cards, the aim of the game is to win as many Peekaboo chips as possible and turn them into outrageously naughty fun.”

The pole dance kit is the latest item to fuel allegations that major retailers increasingly sell products which “sexualise” young children such as T-shirts with suggestive messages.

In recent years Asda was forced to remove from sale pink and black lace lingerie, including a push-up bra to girls as young as nine.

Next had to remove t-shirts on sale for girls as young as six with the slogan “so many boys, so little time.”

And BHS and others came under fire for selling padded bras embellished with a “Little Miss Naughty” logo and t-shirts with a Playboy-style bunny that said “I love boys…They are stupid.”

Tesco last night denied the pole dancing kit was sexually oriented and said it was clearly marked for “adult use”.

A spokesman added: “Pole dancing is an increasing exercise craze. This item is for people who want to improve their fitness and have fun at the same time.”

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