The Griswald and Kya Blog

National Geographic Videos

HIGH- FIVE SUPER BOWL! "Funny Or Die", The Montage Video

HIGH-FIVE SUPER BOWL! - watch more funny videos

Kya laughing...

Margalit Fox's Article Describes The LIfe,Legacy And Suicide of Stephen Huneck

Stephen Huneck, an internationally known artist, woodcarver and furniture maker whose most famous work was the Dog Chapel, a hand-built church in Vermont to which dogs and their owners can go for quiet reflection and spiritual renewal, died on Jan. 7 in Littleton, N.H. He was 61 and lived in St. Johnsbury, Vt. ...

Read the rest of the article to learn more about Dog Chapel, Stephen Huneck's art, books and life @

          www.nytimes.com

Two Dachshunds, Bella And Deiter, Rescued From Haiti By The Humane Society

Watch the video on the HSUS Newsletter Website....Bella and Deiter were rescued once before after Katrina...Lucky Dogs!!!

via www.humanesociety.org

"Big Daddy", Handsome Bulldog Available In Coral Springs, Florida

This is Big Daddy...He's a medium size bulldog available for adoption at Adopt- A- Bull in Coral Springs, Florida. Click on Big Daddy's picture to find out more about him and Adopt-A-Bull on Petfinder 

Volunteers May Be Needed To Go To Haiti And Work With Best Friends, ARCH

BF Rapid Response - Best Friends Network

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Visit BF Rapid Response Web Page if you're interested in going to Haiti to volunteer with Best Friends and the other rescuers working with Animal Relief Coalition for Haiti. They will need volunteers with a history of responding to major disasters and with experience handling small and/or large animals. Since conditions are so severe in Haiti, volunteers will have to be self-sufficient and able to work long hours in extreme heat without shelter. You need a passport and vaccinations. Find out more at their website or send an email to;  bfvolcoord@bestfriends.org  

Harry & Bix Remembered & Mourned on Upper W. Side & in New York Times

This is a sweet and beautiful tribute for two elderly dogs who  lived in the same New York City apartment building and who passed away within two days of each other...                NEW YORK REGION   | January 30, 2010 

West Side Journal:  Dogs' Life (and Death) Is a Poignant Tale 
By ROBIN FINN 
Harry and Bix, two elderly dogs from the same dog-friendly building, died a day apart. 

Quincy considers ban on texting while driving - Quincy, MA

POLL: Quincy considers ban on texting while driving - Quincy, MA - The Patriot Ledger
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I usually just post pictures of dogs that need a home or something about the environment but I read an article in The  Quincy Patriot Ledger about using cell phones while driving and I thought it was interesting. I hope every city bans talking on cell phones & texting while driving. Click on the link above to read the article in the online version of The Ledger.                                                                                                

In the late 60's, for a while, it was legal to drive while wearing  headphones. It was fun but not very safe. Try concentrating on driving while listening to In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida blasting into your right and left ear, rolling  a joint ( a little bit like texting) and maybe balancing a bottle of beer between your legs without killing anyone. Today, I think everyone would say that it was crazy that driving around like that was ever legal.   Using a cell phone while driving is just as crazy. It always takes the law a while to catch up with technology and popular culture. Most people think that they're  great drivers and in control but our brains aren't advanced enough to process all of that information at the same time. I watched a show on Oprah the other day about people who were killed in car accidents that were  caused by drivers who were texting or talking on their cell phones. It was awful. After it was over, I knew that I'd never drive while using my cell phone again... I'll either pull over into a parking lot or wait until I get where I'm going. I finally get it...  No  talking on a  cell phone No texting, No reading messages, No looking to see who's  calling while driving, it only takes a second for something to happen that you can't undo..."Living" and not causing someone else's death are more important to me than being inconvenienced. This is a hard habit to break!!!  A  law banning cell phone use while driving would help everyone  break the habit together. Because of changes in the law everyone  buckles up their kids, puts them into car seats and wears a seat belt;  most people won't drink and drive, we're not exposed to second hand smoke in public spaces anymore and  soon, maybe we can add no using a  cell phone while driving to the list. I hope so...I don't want to get killed by someone because they glanced over at their phone to look at an incoming text for 1/1000 of a second... that shouldn't cost me or anyone else  their life. It's just a habit, but a dangerous one...until the laws are changed,  all we have to do is stop taking calls while driving,  text everyone in our phone-books  about what we're doing and why and see what happens. 

"We Have We Need" Post What You Need/ Fill A Need On This Haitian Relief Site

 "We Have We Need" is a website where relief organizations can post their most urgent needs and have them met by donors who can fullfill them.  The purpose of the project is to provide aid to the people of Haiti. All services are provided at no cost. Here are a few examples of current posts; HAVE-cloth diapers, posted by "Sweet Pea", a small Canadian company...  NEED-Generator Fuel, posted by "Partners in Development",  a Boston organization that needs the fuel for generators where they work in Haiti...other posted needs; blankets, tents, sleeping bags, a Blackberry, computer monitors, an Orthopedic Surgeon, Software Developers... please visit  www.wehaveweneed.org/  

Grizzy's tongue is so big!!!

Great White tagged off Cape Cod surfaces in Florida

The first shark I ever saw up close, in person, was once when I was swimming at South Beach...a small shark swam right up to me and kept bumping my leg with it's nose...I think it was a sand shark, I just remember the lifeguards made everyone get out of the water...this was before "Jaws" so no one panicked but I've been fascinated with sharks ever since. They're my favorite sea creature  (along with horseshoe crabs & lobsters) at the Aquarium. 

Division of Marine Fisheries

One of the sharks being tagged in September

By Stefanie Geiser, Globe Correspondent

In September, it was one of five predators from the deep creating consternation off the Cape Cod town of Chatham.

Now, one of those great white sharks is being hailed as a trove of scientific information. The voracious animal, which was tagged by state marine biologists when it was swimming off Chatham, has surfaced 50 miles east of Jacksonville, Fla., and its tag has begun transmitting data.

“We were very pleased to hear that this one had surfaced,” said Catherine Williams, spokeswoman for the Division of Marine Fisheries, which led the tagging project. “We’re expecting that the other four will surface any time between now and the spring, but, of course, there are no guarantees.”

The shark first surfaced on Friday. Using satellite-based technology, the tag will transmit data that has been collected since September. Scientists will receive a variety of measurements, including water depth and temperature.

Williams said it will take about a week for scientists to analyze the data.

This was the first successful tagging of great white sharks in the Atlantic Ocean using satellite technology. A previous unsuccessful attempt was in 2004, when a shark was trapped in a shallow tidal pool at Naushon Island off the Massachusetts coast.

“I think this is one of the most intriguing yet least understood animals on the face of the earth,” said Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs Ian Bowles. “This is a species that has captured the imagination of beachgoers and boaters and the general public for generations now, and it’s remarkable how little we know

World Wildlife Fund Launches Earth Hour 2010

This year, Earth Hour will take place Saturday, March 27 @8:30 p.m. Last year more than a billion people participated. I'm interested in hearing how blog readers will  observe Earth Hour 2010. I'll  be taking pictures at one of the local events in Ft. Lauderdale or Delray Beach and uploading them to the EarthHour website and posting them here...You can find out more  at;  EarthHour.org 

The ASPCA Has Joined the Animal Relief Coalition For Haiti

The ARCH is headed by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) and the World Society for the Protection of Animals(WSPA), and in addition to the ASPCA, consists of a number of animal welfare groups including United Animal Nation, American Humane, Best Friends, the Humane Society of the United States and Humane Society International. The ASPCA has set up a donations page for anyone who would like to make a contribution @ website  You can also make a donation through United Animal Nations and Best Friends Society by visiting their websites or by clicking on links to their websites that are posted on this blog.

Best Friends Has Joined The Animal Relief Coalition For Haiti (ARCH)

Best Friends Animal Society has released a statement announcing that they plan to send staff and specially trained volunteers to Haiti ASAP. Their goal is to help other members of the ARCH deliver food and water to the animals in the area around the capital city of Port au Prince as well as provide vaccinations to community dogs to help prevent the spread of rabies. Any contributions, large or small will go directly towards supplying the Coalitons' mobile unit.

United Animal Nations Joins The Animal Relief Coalition For Haiti (ARCH)

United Animal Nations has joined the Animal Relief Coalition for Haiti (ARCH), an international group of professional animal welfare organizations working together to help the animals affected by this tragedy.

ARCH is spearheaded by the International Fund for Animal Welfare and the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA), of which UAN is a member organization. Through ARCH, relief teams will work out of a mobile clinic donated by the Antigua and Barbuda Humane Society. The clinic will be shipped to a WSPA member society, Sociedad Dominicana Para la Protección de Animales, in the Dominican Republic and driven across the border into Haiti . Once in Haiti , the team will administer emergency care to the animals and help animals belonging to people displaced by the disaster.
 
Through its Emergency Animal Rescue Service, UAN is used to being on the front lines of disaster response. But the situation in Haiti is extremely dangerous given public health and safety concerns. UAN will not be deploying EARS volunteers for this response. The best way UAN can help the animals is to make a financial contribution to support organizations that already have the knowledge and connections to reach the animals quickly. 
 

All donation to the Haiti Animal Relief Fund will go directly to helping the animals in Haiti through the ARCH mobile clinic.

 

You can learn more about United Animal Nations (UAN) at their Web site and get current reports about the rescue mission at the  Emergency Response Blog with will have information from Haiti as it becomes available.