Category Archives: Human Accomplishment

The Passion of The Parrots

Environmentalism & Animal Rights, Human Accomplishment, Journalism, Morality

“We love them for being like us. … But then we find ourselves unprepared for the challenges.” So wrote Chuck Bergman on the plight and paradox of parrots. The article quoted is “No-Fly Zone: Denied Their Natural Habits, Millions of Pet Parrots Lead Bleak, Lonely Lives.” It appeared in All Animals magazine, published by the Humane Society of the United States.

An academic, writer, photographer and conservationist, Chuck’s pieces about parrots are, well, achingly beautiful. (Next, read “The World’s Smartest Birds, Set Free,” at Slate.com.)

Here is hoping that Chuck puts that epistolary passion for parrots to work in the cause of Bob and Carol Dawson’s parrot paradise: “Macaw Rescue and Sanctuary.” I’ve written a short blog post about the sanctuary that Bob and Carol Dawson built. A feature about this haven—where it is well and truly about the birds—would be wonderful.

Bob & Carol Dawson’s Parrot Paradise

Environmentalism & Animal Rights, Ethics, Human Accomplishment, Morality

An uplifting couple of hours were spent today, Sunday, at the “Macaw Rescue and Sanctuary,” a magical parrot oasis, built and operated by the best of Western Washington, Bob and Carol Dawson. (Make that the best of the best.) Not since Sean and I visited Christy Hensrude’s Zazu’s House Parrot Sanctuary have we been so inspired. (We endorse both rescues unequivocally.)

In preparation for the first of many such future volunteer visits, we made toys galore from non-toxic wood Sean had cut in the garage. (Reluctantly, Oscar-Wood donated some of his colorful stash of beads.) Mounds of fresh, organic greens, assorted vegetables and fruits were washed (very thoroughly) and tossed with organic seed (pumpkin, sunflower, hemp and flax) as well as nuts, smashed in-shell with a meat pounder, so that the smaller birds could enjoy Brazil, pecan and walnut.

The food we served in Bob’s high-quality dishes, which required hardly any scrubbing. Yes, down to the smallest detail, these people are driven by devotion. So too were the toys hung. But most inspiring was taking in the totality of Bob and Carol’s creation, all 22 acres of it. Situated in beautiful rural western Washington and ranked #16 of 290 charities in the region; “Macaw Rescue and Sanctuary” is a glorious, well-kept and smartly run haven—a home to hundreds upon hundreds of free-flying flocks of happy, thriving parrots.

“Macaw Rescue and Sanctuary” is truly a labor of love.

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With Bob Dawson in front of the small-bird enclosure:

Yummy:

The same enormous enclosure snapped from the outside:

This man is the real deal:

From The Parrot Archive:

“Oscar-Wood, Non-Stop Naughty”
“‘Dead Birds Flying’: Help Steve Boyes Help The Cape Parrot”
Precious Oscar-Wood Pacifies Himself

The Genius of Joan

Human Accomplishment, Left-Liberalism And Progressivisim, Political Correctness, Pop-Culture, The Zeitgeist

Granted, they aren’t all lousy comedians, but they have ultimately devolved into consummate, banal leftists. Roseanne Barr[f], Sarah Silverman, Kathy Griffin, Chelsea Handler: why are these women and their fare being likened to the genius of Joan Rivers?

Via The New York Times:

On Nancy Reagan’s hairdo: “Bulletproof. If they ever combed it, they’d find Jimmy Hoffa.”

On Charlton Heston: “He told us, ‘I got Alzheimer’s.’ Surprise! He’s been wearing his wig sideways for 19 years.”

On Donatella Versace: “That skin! She looks like something you’d hang off your door in Africa.”

On Sandra Bullock’s Bottega Veneta gown at the Golden Globes: “It looked like Prince’s old prom dress.” (And Tina Fey’s Zac Posen: “A decorative toilet seat cover.”)

On Queen Elizabeth II: “Gowns by Helen Keller.” “Nice looking. Not at all like her stamp. Wears her watch over the glove, though — tacky.”

On herself, desperate for a man: “My parents had a sign, ‘Last girl before thruway.’ I’d get an obscene phone call. I’d say, ‘Hold on a minute, let me get a cigarette.’ ”
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Nothing was sacred.

On her husband’s suicide: “After Edgar killed himself, I went out to dinner with Melissa. I looked at the menu and said, ‘If Daddy were here to see these prices, he’d kill himself all over again.’ ”

“Joan Rivers: Antidote to PC Totalitarianism.”

UPDATED: RIP, Joan Rivers

Celebrity, Comedy & Humor, Healthcare, Human Accomplishment, Political Correctness

The great Joan Rivers has died. I’ll miss her wit. She had undergone countless facial procedures, and should not have gambled yet again with her good health for no good reason. There is no such thing as minor surgery. If it’s meant to fix a “minor” matter, like the vocal cords, then surgery need not have happened.

Via Fox News:

Rivers went into cardiac arrest on Aug. 28 following a procedure at a clinic. She had been moved out of intensive care yesterday and into a private room.

In a statement, her daughter Melissa said:

It is with great sadness that I announce the death of my mother, Joan Rivers. She passed peacefully at 1:17 p.m. surrounded by family and close friends…”

From “Joan Rivers: Antidote to PC Totalitarianism“:

Already in her 80s, the octogenarian is best-known nowadays for the sartorial send-up “Fashion Police.” The Rivers repartee is so ribald—it’s fair to say she’s the only woman who can get manly men to watch a show about fashion. While her humor has become a tad tame for me—Rivers once even disgorged, albeit with difficulty, praise for the loathsome Lena Dunham of “Girls” fame—she, nevertheless, stands out as the only public persona who flatly refuses to apologize for her signature wit.

Examples: Joan has compared the guest room she occupies at her daughter’s abode to the basement in which the “Cleveland kidnapping victims, Gina DeJesus, Michelle Knight and Amanda Berry, were bound, raped and tortured for years before their escape. ‘Those women in the basement in Cleveland had more room,’ quipped Rivers.

Describing one awful outfit on “Fashion Police,” Rivers ventured that “on the scale of really bad ideas, it falls between marrying Charlie Sheen and using Oscar Pistorius’s bathroom.”

When Madonna accused Lady Gaga of stealing her “music,” Joan wanted to know how you could steal a rash.

And, Ms. Rivers walked in on a football party thrown for her grandson and his rowdy small friends by daughter Melissa. Looking on with disdain at the grubby little boys, Rivers blurted out: “I don’t know how Jerry Sandusky managed to do it.”

All wickedly clever. …

READ how Joan Rivers destroyed CNN’s Fredricka Witless HERE.

UPDATE: A well-written piece, at the Daily Beast, by British journalist Tom Teeman: “Joan Rivers: An Epic, And Epically Funny, Life”:

Anger motivated her. “I don’t know where mine comes from, but thank God it’s there,” she said. “Anger at the stupidity of everything around you. … Rivers denied, as I suggested, she’d been rude to so many people. “I told the truth. I don’t think it’s rude. I haven’t been invited to the White House since the Reagans were there.” … Rivers told me she didn’t know why she was still the outsider …”

We know why.