Racing community saddened by death of Paul Newman
By MARK VAUGHN
Paul Newman, Christian Fittipaldi and Carl Hass sport lucky cigars after Fittipaldi won the CART race at Road America in 1999
LAT PHOTOGRAPHIC
Paul Newman: A racer remembered
PHOTO GALLERY
Paul Leonard Newman was a racer who supported his habit by acting. That’s how he would have wanted to be remembered--and was, in an outpouring of condolences from the racing community.
Racer/actor/philanthropist Newman, who managed to succeed in all three fields, died Friday after a long battle with cancer. He was 83.
He came to racing late in life, driving his first race car in his forties. Bob Bondurant trained him to drive for the 1969 movie Winning at the then-brand-new Bondurant School, which at the time was using Datsun 510s, Datsun roadsters and a single Formula Vee at Orange County International Raceway in California.
Newman was the fourth student at the new school. Co-star Robert Wagner was the fifth.
“I asked him why he wanted to go to my school and he said, ‘I had two other movies I could make quite a bit of money in, but I wanted to see if I could drive a race car.’ ”
Turns out he could, and Newman fell in love with racing from the start.
"The first thing that I ever found I had any grace in", Newman once said.
He would race for the rest of his life. Many of his first rides were in Datsuns prepared by Bob Sharp, who was an accomplished racer himself and became a Datsun dealer in 1969. One of Newman’s earliest rides was a Bob Sharp Datsun 510 in SCCA B Production. He piloted BSR Zs, too.
“We spent a lot of Tuesdays up at Lime Rock with him following my line and me following him,” recalled Sharp. “He wanted a Z car but I put him in a 510 sedan instead. I thought he’d learn more in a less powerful car.”
Newman’s first race win was probably in one of those Bob Sharp 510s, though an early win is listed in a Lotus Elan in Thompson, Conn., in 1972. Whichever was first, there were many more to come in one of the longest racing careers on record.
Newman co-drove a Porsche 935 at LeMans in 1979 with Dick Barbour and Rolf Stommelen to first place in the IMSA class and second overall.
Among drivers who piloted his race cars was Elliott Forbes-Robinson, who raced for Newman in Can Am and became a friend. Robinson was impressed with Newman’s acumen behind the wheel.
“He was an excellent driver the whole time,” Forbes-Robinson recalled. “It was an absolute pleasure to work with him--if you showed him something, he wouldn’t come into the pits and say he couldn’t do it or complain about something, he’d go out and do it. He was great.”
Newman raced sports cars in endurance events, which meant he had a lot of co-drivers over the years. Among them was Sam Posey.
“Paul was guided in much of what he did by the attitude, ‘Why not?’ ” recalled Posey, who remained a friend throughout life. “He embraced projects that called for a leap of faith. Become a racing driver, starting in your mid 40s and putting your acting career at risk? Why not? Turn a few cases of salad dressing made in your basement into a commercial food empire--and then use the profits to create camps for sick children? Why not? If this sounds naive, it wasn’t. He calculated the odds. In real life, he never asked, ‘Who are those guys?’ He knew.”
From the mid ‘70s to the early ‘90s, Newman drove for the Bob Sharp Racing team, mainly in Datsuns and Nissans. He won four SCCA national titles: D-production in 1976, C-production in ’79 and GT-1 in 1985-86. He raced in Trans-Am and even in the Baja 1000.
As a team owner he joined Carl Haas in 1983 to form Newman-Haas racing, which went on to win 97 races and seven championships.
He never seemed to tire of the other side of the sport, though, staying behind the wheel long after most reasonable men had given up even playing golf. At 70 he co-drove a Mustang to victory in the GTS class of the 24 Hours of Daytona, the oldest driver to win a major sanctioned race. A decade later he was still at it.
“My last recollection of him was a few years back when Panoz was just finishing the front-engined LMP racer,” said designer Peter Brock. “The Panoz crew had the new car out at Road Atlanta for a test with a couple of notable shoes who were looking for the ride. Since P.L. was there he was offered the chance to test the car. He hadn't been in a race car for over a year and in truth looked pretty frail. The shoes had just put up some pretty impressive times so the bar was set. P.L. got in and within five or six laps had matched 'em! He got out and quietly thanked the crew for the opportunity and left. Just amazing.”
“He drove less frequently in the last few years,” recalled Posey. “But his car was a brutish Corvette which had his age as its number. I remember when it was No. 81 and he was racing at Lime Rock. It was raining, and the track had standing water at several places. Any sensible 81-year-old would have put the thing on the trailer, but Paul got out there, out braked the field into Turn One, got into a slide at about 120 mph, corrected deftly, and shot through into the lead, which he never lost.”
The Newman’s Own Foundation, which has directed over $250 million to charity over the years, gave perhaps the best summation of his life:
“Paul Newman's craft was acting. His passion was racing. His love was his family and friends. And his heart and soul were dedicated to helping make the world a better place for all.”
On Saturday, Indianapolis Motor Speedway CEO and Indy Racing League founder Tony George said: "On behalf of my mother Mari Human George and the entire Hulman-George family at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and IndyCar Series, our thoughts and prayers are with the family, friends and loved ones of Paul Newman. To all his fans world-wide and those close to him in our racing community, we share a deep sense of loss, but cherish the many fond memories we will forever carry with us."
More Reaction:
“On behalf of Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing, my wife Bernadette and myself, I want to express our most sincere condolences to Joanne and the entire Newman family on the loss of a great human being. Paul and I have been partners for 26 years and I have come to know his passion, humor and above all, his generosity. Not just economic generosity, but generosity of spirit. His support of the team’s drivers, crew and the racing industry is legendary. His pure joy at winning a pole position or winning a race exemplified the spirit he brought to his life and to all those that knew him. We will truly miss him.”
-- Carl A. Haas, co-owner of Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing
"We truly lost a great man. Most of us knew him as Butch or Fast Eddie from the theater or from our living rooms at home. He was much more than a great actor. His legacy will be his five children, his wife, Joanne, and all the sick children around the world who desperately needed his help. Paul was a man of character who cared about the world and the people who lived in it. Putting a smile on a young person’s face and helping people in need was a virtue he excelled at. Little did anyone realize a child born of such humble beginnings could affect our lives in so many positive ways. We should all learn to live by his example. We will miss him dearly but will never forget him."
-- Michael Lanigan, co-owner of Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing
“We are deeply saddened by the passing of Mr. Newman. He was a man of great courage, determination and integrity and gave a lot not only to the world of auto racing, but to the world around us. His generosity knew no bounds and his work with helping children as well as what he achieved with aiding the environment will prove to help people for many years to come.”
“I had the pleasure of driving for Mr. Newman in 1981 and I was richer for the experience. He was a man of class and he was also deservedly very highly regarded for his driving skills. The world is a poorer place today for his passing.”
-- Bobby Rahal, Rahal Letterman Racing
"Paul Newman--a real American hero, an inspiration to me in much that I have attempted in my adult life. Not so much for the parts he played, but for the man that he was. He was one of Hollywood's greatest. He could not only talk the talk on film, but more importantly could walk the walk as a private citizen. As a young man he was an American hero who served his country in one of the U.S. Army Air Corps' most dangerous assignments in Western Europe. Additionally, his charitable enterprises have generated tens of millions for the benefit of hundreds of thousands of underprivileged Americans. He will be never forgotten. May he rest in peace."
-- Jack Roush, owner, Roush Fenway Racing
"It’s truly a sad day. Paul was one of the most iconic figures not just in motorsports, but through his life in general. He was so much more a contributor to the world than a taker. He was a dear friend and will be missed.”
-- Don Panoz, founder of the American Le Mans Series and a close friend of Newman
“I probably wouldn’t be racing today if it wasn’t for Paul Newman. The first time I got in the car that year, he was faster than I was. Even recently, he was still incredibly quick and could get around Lime Rock (his home track) better than anyone. He has been such a huge influence on my career and has been a close friend of our family for a long time.”
-- Gunnar Jeannette, driver who first raced with Newman in 2000
“We were introduced driving Ferraris in 1977 at Daytona, and we developed a mutual friendship. Paul was so passionate about driving. He told me a few times that he didn’t really care for Hollywood, and that it was just a business. He really wished he had started driving earlier and made that his career. He was very consistent, never put a wheel off and was easy on the equipment.”
-- Dick Barbour, Robertson Racing
“There was a legend quality to Paul Newman not unlike Mario (Andretti). He was a guy who you’d see and be around and just realize how much love and passion he had for racing. I always admired, as did others in the paddock, how he would often put racing before his movie career. I remember a time when he missed an important movie awards show in order to be at one of our events. He was a very sweet person to talk to about everything, not just racing. He will be sadly missed.”
-- Adrian Fernandez, Lowe’s Fernandez Racing driver and owner
“Most of the world knew Paul as in incredible person and one of the best actors we were ever able to witness as well as a great philanthropist. But those of us in racing were very blessed to witness his passion for this sport, which was very apparent. He was one of the few high-profile owners to attend tests and this made all of us see him as one of us. This is very sad news indeed and we will miss him tremendously.”
-- Gil de Ferran, a two-time CART champion and former Indianapolis 500 winner
“Everyone treated him as a fellow competitor, not as a celebrity. He came here as a racer, was serious about his racing and…he was good. It was amazing that he was as good as he was at his age. And, he liked going fast. Back in the day when Bob Sharp was building the incredibly fast Nissans/Datsons, Newman was racing at Long Beach with Sharp along with the Indy Cars. Newman was the fastest guy down the straight--faster then the Indy Cars. And when I say fast, I don’t mean lap time…I mean speed. He always enjoyed having a car with a big motor. He was a huge supporter of the track. Everyone (the staff, friends and myself) at Lime Rock Park will miss him.”
-- Skip Barber, president, Lime Rock Park
"Paul Newman's craft was acting. His passion was racing. His love was his family and friends. And his heart and soul were dedicated to helping make the world a better place for all. Paul had an abiding belief in the role that luck plays in one's life, and its randomness. He was quick to acknowledge the good fortune he had in his own life, beginning with being born in America, and was acutely aware of how unlucky so many others were. True to his character, he quietly devoted himself to helping offset this imbalance. An exceptional example is the legacy of Newman's Own. What started as something of a joke in the basement of his home, turned into a highly-respected, multi-million-dollar-a-year food company. And true to form, he shared this good fortune by donating all the profits and royalties he earned to thousands of charities around the world, a total which now exceeds $250 million."
-- Robert Forrester, vice chairman, Newman's Own Foundation
“I am extremely saddened to hear about Paul’s passing. He was a great guy to be with around the track. He was one of a kind. Obviously I am just thinking of his family and wishing them well while they are trying to deal with this. It can’t be easy. He’s going to be missed, not just in the motor racing world but in every area that he participated in, in his life. He affected so many people in a positive way. I’m going to miss him and am fortunate to have known him.”
-- Justin Wilson, driver of the No. 02 McDonald’s race car for Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing
“It has been a very upsetting 24 hours for the team and my family. Paul has been a huge part of both my success as well as my father’s. and he will be greatly missed. He was a tremendous man, one that everyone should model their lives after. My sincere condolences go out to the Newman family.”
-- Graham Rahal, driver of the No. 06 Hole in the Wall Camps race car for Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing
Sunday, September 28, 2008
R.I.P. Paul Newman
This is so sad. My mom will be really sad. She was forever in love with Paul Newman. I didn't know his cancer was so advanced. Cancer is scary! Rest in peace Paul. Thank you for all that you gave and all that you inspired in our lives.
Paul Newman: Rebel, rogue, hero
By Neil Smith
Entertainment reporter, BBC News
Paul Newman
Newman was voted the greatest actor of all time by film experts in 2001
From Butch Cassidy and Cool Hand Luke to Fast Eddie Felson, Paul Newman brought an integrity, vigour and wry impertinence to his roles that clicked with the anti-authoritarian spirit of the '60s and '70s.
Initially hamstrung by those piercing blue eyes and matinee idol features, he deliberately sought out more challenging, anti-heroic parts that ensured his career outlasted many of his contemporaries.
His characters - convicts, outlaws, con men and hustlers - were far from admirable. His gift, however, was to invest them with a charm, humour and crumpled nobility that made them irresistible to men and women alike.
It was this that enabled him in later life to become a distinguished character actor capable of elevating films like Road to Perdition, Message in a Bottle and The Hudsucker Proxy by his sheer force of presence.
Screenwriter William Goldman, who worked with Newman on Harper and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, once described him as "the least star-like superstar" he'd ever met.
Limelight
"He's an educated man and a trained actor and he never wants more close-ups," he wrote in his 1984 memoir Adventures in the Screen Trade.
"What he wants is the best possible script he can have. And he loves to be surrounded by the finest actors available, because he believes the better they are, the better the picture's apt to be."
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Newman (right) was due to play Sundance until Redford joined the film
That was certainly true in Butch Cassidy, in which Newman forged one of cinema's most iconic screen partnerships with co-star Robert Redford.
When he wanted to, however, the Ohio-born actor was more than capable of stealing the limelight.
Take The Hustler, for example, in which, as brash and cocksure pool shark Eddie Felson, he effortlessly upstaged the likes of Jackie Gleason and George C Scott.
Reprising the role in 1986's The Color of Money opposite an up-and-coming Tom Cruise landed Newman his only competitive Oscar.
In truth, however, he'd done better work earlier that decade in 1981's Absence of Malice and The Verdict the following year.
In the former, directed by Sydney Pollack, Newman played a businessman whose familial ties to organised crime saw him persecuted both by the US judiciary and an irresponsible press.
In the latter, he played an alcoholic lawyer who tried to salvage his tarnished reputation by taking on a daunting medical malpractice case.
One man alone, fighting the impossible fight against the odds, was a role Newman would return to many times.
And even if that fight was ultimately unsuccessful, as in Cool Hand Luke, his refusal to back down ensured he'd always be a winner in the audience's eyes.
"What we've got here is a failure to communicate!" cries his non-conformist prisoner at the end of that 1967 classic.
That, of course, was something the actor himself could never be accused of. Whatever the role, whatever the film, his inherent decency always came over loud and clear.
Paul Newman: Rebel, rogue, hero
By Neil Smith
Entertainment reporter, BBC News
Paul Newman
Newman was voted the greatest actor of all time by film experts in 2001
From Butch Cassidy and Cool Hand Luke to Fast Eddie Felson, Paul Newman brought an integrity, vigour and wry impertinence to his roles that clicked with the anti-authoritarian spirit of the '60s and '70s.
Initially hamstrung by those piercing blue eyes and matinee idol features, he deliberately sought out more challenging, anti-heroic parts that ensured his career outlasted many of his contemporaries.
His characters - convicts, outlaws, con men and hustlers - were far from admirable. His gift, however, was to invest them with a charm, humour and crumpled nobility that made them irresistible to men and women alike.
It was this that enabled him in later life to become a distinguished character actor capable of elevating films like Road to Perdition, Message in a Bottle and The Hudsucker Proxy by his sheer force of presence.
Screenwriter William Goldman, who worked with Newman on Harper and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, once described him as "the least star-like superstar" he'd ever met.
Limelight
"He's an educated man and a trained actor and he never wants more close-ups," he wrote in his 1984 memoir Adventures in the Screen Trade.
"What he wants is the best possible script he can have. And he loves to be surrounded by the finest actors available, because he believes the better they are, the better the picture's apt to be."
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Newman (right) was due to play Sundance until Redford joined the film
That was certainly true in Butch Cassidy, in which Newman forged one of cinema's most iconic screen partnerships with co-star Robert Redford.
When he wanted to, however, the Ohio-born actor was more than capable of stealing the limelight.
Take The Hustler, for example, in which, as brash and cocksure pool shark Eddie Felson, he effortlessly upstaged the likes of Jackie Gleason and George C Scott.
Reprising the role in 1986's The Color of Money opposite an up-and-coming Tom Cruise landed Newman his only competitive Oscar.
In truth, however, he'd done better work earlier that decade in 1981's Absence of Malice and The Verdict the following year.
In the former, directed by Sydney Pollack, Newman played a businessman whose familial ties to organised crime saw him persecuted both by the US judiciary and an irresponsible press.
In the latter, he played an alcoholic lawyer who tried to salvage his tarnished reputation by taking on a daunting medical malpractice case.
One man alone, fighting the impossible fight against the odds, was a role Newman would return to many times.
And even if that fight was ultimately unsuccessful, as in Cool Hand Luke, his refusal to back down ensured he'd always be a winner in the audience's eyes.
"What we've got here is a failure to communicate!" cries his non-conformist prisoner at the end of that 1967 classic.
That, of course, was something the actor himself could never be accused of. Whatever the role, whatever the film, his inherent decency always came over loud and clear.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
The hugging lion Christian
I'm not quite sure when this happened but I found this on one of the blogs in my Google reader tonight. This is the sweet story of Christian, the Hugging Lion, and his two owners and their story. This just shows more evidence that if you're in an animals age either from a young age, where you have raised them into an adult or if you spent several years getting to know and bonding with an animal, that he or she will always remember you!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pmV6tlvZHk&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pmV6tlvZHk&feature=related
Good days, bad days and everything in between...
So quite a lot has happened over the past month or so. All good, bad and neutral. During the middle of July and some into August, I had the opportunity to take care of a client/friend's dog, named Tango. He was a med sized Corgi, much more red than ones I have seen previously but very handsome and with quite a character/personality. He was a great dog, you could tell that he really got a lot out of everyday life as a dog, really lived each day to its' fullest. And I could take him with me, the next best thing for me as a pet sitter - any dog/animal that I can take with me in the car and go on errands, hiking, camping, to events, etc. So where I went, he went. He just loved being center of my world, he always paid attention to me. We went into this coffee shop and instead of him paying attention to the pets he was getting, he only looked up at me with a big grin on his face. When we went to the Pescadero Beach and I brought Blue with us, he and blue chased each other all over the place, and there was Tango chasing Blue down, acting like he was twice his size. I had so much fun with him and he loved to spoon and cuddle in bed. It was amusing sleeping next to a slightly overweight Corgi, who was cuddled up right alongside of you and also snored! He was in my care for almost a month, as his owner took about an extra 4 days over to be away. When she got back, I learned that something was wrong with him all of a sudden, he could barely walk the next day after she got home. I felt bad, like maybe I had walked him too much or he just got sore from all of the running around he had done at the dog park. Unfortunately when he was taken to the vet a few days later, it came back that this lymph nodes under his elbows were super swollen and then the biopsy came back and said that he had very advanced Lymphosarchoma. When I got that email, I cried for hours and then off and on throughout the day. I started emailing people who had gotten to meet him over the previous weekend. He got to meet my Gramma and neighbor and brother and family when he spent most of his time under my chair in the dining room while he took part in a dinner party for my Gramma and he was so good, inside my house of all places! It only took me half a day to bond with Tango and for me, that was very special. He was practically my dog when his owner finally returned. And it was hard to say goodbye that day but in my mind, I would see him soon. About two weeks later, right before I had planned to meet his mom and Tango in Woodside to visit with him and 'say goodbye' to him, I got a new email from his owner with a really wonderful note describing him and his life and she told me that they had put him down the day before, that he was in too much pain and there just wasn't anything worth doing. I cried all day and night and off and on for the next week or so. I'm still very sad and it took me almost a month to load the pictures from my camera onto my laptop to be able to look at pictures of him without loosing it. Here are my favorites that I took, the only pictures that I have of Tango: R.I.P. Tango
The next pet sitting job was for my friend M in San Jose. Crash is such a great dog and one of my new buddies. He is so great that halfway through our first long amount of time with each other, we bonded so well that I secretly wished he was my dog. I've never felt that strongly about that feeling with any other pet I have cared for, whether it was a friend's pet or not. The story about how we bonded is very cute: I had met him previously but it had been months so I doubt he remembered much since we didn't have a chance to play before. I came in the house to greet him and he was really shy and nervous, with his tail between his legs:( I got him to come to me with all the treats I found in the kitchen and I sat on the floor in the kitchen so he could get to know me on his terms. He walked around and sniffed me a bit, then when I saw his confidence, I started talking to him and finally he sat right down beside me and it was then that I just wrapped my arms around him and squeezed and he nearly exploded with excitement. It was so cute, I was laughing and expressing positive noises in his presence. He was suddenly so happy and just wanted to play with me and shower me with kisses, which is what I got. He snuggled together in bed, he would wake me in the morning by watching me and he has such a unique personality, it's like he was once human. He's got a big sturdy, long body with a vicious tail that likes to wag and knock things off tables as he walks by! He also reminds me of the guy in Zoolander, especially because he does the same 'pose' with his head as he whips it around to look you in the eyes. It's so incredibly funny to see! I tried to capture it below. There is also a picture that I caught of him in my front seat in the car. I had let him outside to walk around with me while I packed the car, getting ready to head home and after 5 minutes, I suddenly couldn't find him. I found him in the driver's seat, curled up, not wanting to get out and as if to say, 'where you go, I go'! He's my new fave and I can't wait to take care of him next. I will get to take him with me to the Bark in the Park Festival in San Jose on Sept 20th. Can't wait for that.
Here are a couple pics taken with Crash and Goldie. Goldie is the Collie/Aussie Shepard that I walk 3x week and she is one of my faves as well, obviously we have a special bond, as her mom calls me her 'best friend'. Crash really liked Goldie a lot and even affectionately let her play with his ball. She was running and chasing the ball and would carry it around in her mouth. And she's not even a 'ball dog' which is funny! Happy Dogs!!!:)
Two weeks ago I found out that my Aunt on my dad's side has breast cancer, and a scary type at that. It's one that is in the form of a large tumor, in her left breast, inside the milk duct! It was never a lump that she felt so when she went in for her yearly mammogram, they saw something on the films and requested she get a biopsy done. It now appears that it has been growing inside of her for 10 years. Fuck! :( So I've been in such shock and just haven't been sleeping well for a few nights on and off. I've known of several women who have gotten this disease but not actual close family members or close friends and no one that has gotten such an advanced case of it Originally when they discovered it on the film, it was thought that it had already spread to all of her lymph nodes, not just the ones in her left breast. It is just devastating! I didn't' get much done last week and was just thinking good thoughts. She had surgery last week on my brother's birthday, to remove the 22 swollen/infected lymph nodes under her left arm and to remove a good chunk of breast tissue under the left to get all the margins as well as the same amount on the right side just as backup. Don't want to have to go back in later. She stayed in the hospital for two nights and was back home on Friday. She was in a bed for a bit, with a very sore left armpit and places where the tissue was removed. At least she was on lots of nice drugs! Both cousins K and G went down to Newport Beach for that weekend when Ka got home from the hospital. Today she finally got the results back from her biopsy on the stuff that was removed and thank goddess, her excellent surgeon got all of the margins and the equal amounts on the right side so all of the tumor has been removed completely. Yay! She is in really good spirits as of right now and is thinking very positively I'm sure. :) We all feel much better about all of this now. I think G and K are still there and Gr is supposed to be up this coming weekend I believe. Now she just has to get through Chemo, having her hair fall out and radiation. Obviously this can be pretty rough too but she feels lucky to be past the part where you keep waiting on news.
Other news, include: Kineivel turned 5 on August 9th. I still remember today seeing him on that curb on the side of the road and watching C catch him and scooping him up in my arms, listening to his tiny purr. He is the purrmeister today, as his purr has different tones but I was woken yesterday by his loud, impressive purrs, as he exclaimed his excitement that it had finally cooled off weather wise and he could go back to taking naps that resemble hibernation under the fuzzy fleece horse blanket that is on my bed.
*It is now official!!! I am moving to Portland for sure, sometime around the end of January. I promised my loyal pet sitting clients that I would stay here through the holidays so that they could plan their holidays and I also have one last job beginning of Jan. I will for sure be having a great big 'Going Away' party/bash and you'll get invites in December sometime! I'm looking at housing now and I will be in Portland from October 7th until the morning of the 12th. I'm taking advantage of flying, since I can't drive that far alone and I just want to get there, instead of doing a drive that takes all day and night. I can't wait, as it is much needed and I need to look at some housing options and visit with friends/new friends. :)
The next pet sitting job was for my friend M in San Jose. Crash is such a great dog and one of my new buddies. He is so great that halfway through our first long amount of time with each other, we bonded so well that I secretly wished he was my dog. I've never felt that strongly about that feeling with any other pet I have cared for, whether it was a friend's pet or not. The story about how we bonded is very cute: I had met him previously but it had been months so I doubt he remembered much since we didn't have a chance to play before. I came in the house to greet him and he was really shy and nervous, with his tail between his legs:( I got him to come to me with all the treats I found in the kitchen and I sat on the floor in the kitchen so he could get to know me on his terms. He walked around and sniffed me a bit, then when I saw his confidence, I started talking to him and finally he sat right down beside me and it was then that I just wrapped my arms around him and squeezed and he nearly exploded with excitement. It was so cute, I was laughing and expressing positive noises in his presence. He was suddenly so happy and just wanted to play with me and shower me with kisses, which is what I got. He snuggled together in bed, he would wake me in the morning by watching me and he has such a unique personality, it's like he was once human. He's got a big sturdy, long body with a vicious tail that likes to wag and knock things off tables as he walks by! He also reminds me of the guy in Zoolander, especially because he does the same 'pose' with his head as he whips it around to look you in the eyes. It's so incredibly funny to see! I tried to capture it below. There is also a picture that I caught of him in my front seat in the car. I had let him outside to walk around with me while I packed the car, getting ready to head home and after 5 minutes, I suddenly couldn't find him. I found him in the driver's seat, curled up, not wanting to get out and as if to say, 'where you go, I go'! He's my new fave and I can't wait to take care of him next. I will get to take him with me to the Bark in the Park Festival in San Jose on Sept 20th. Can't wait for that.
Here are a couple pics taken with Crash and Goldie. Goldie is the Collie/Aussie Shepard that I walk 3x week and she is one of my faves as well, obviously we have a special bond, as her mom calls me her 'best friend'. Crash really liked Goldie a lot and even affectionately let her play with his ball. She was running and chasing the ball and would carry it around in her mouth. And she's not even a 'ball dog' which is funny! Happy Dogs!!!:)
Two weeks ago I found out that my Aunt on my dad's side has breast cancer, and a scary type at that. It's one that is in the form of a large tumor, in her left breast, inside the milk duct! It was never a lump that she felt so when she went in for her yearly mammogram, they saw something on the films and requested she get a biopsy done. It now appears that it has been growing inside of her for 10 years. Fuck! :( So I've been in such shock and just haven't been sleeping well for a few nights on and off. I've known of several women who have gotten this disease but not actual close family members or close friends and no one that has gotten such an advanced case of it Originally when they discovered it on the film, it was thought that it had already spread to all of her lymph nodes, not just the ones in her left breast. It is just devastating! I didn't' get much done last week and was just thinking good thoughts. She had surgery last week on my brother's birthday, to remove the 22 swollen/infected lymph nodes under her left arm and to remove a good chunk of breast tissue under the left to get all the margins as well as the same amount on the right side just as backup. Don't want to have to go back in later. She stayed in the hospital for two nights and was back home on Friday. She was in a bed for a bit, with a very sore left armpit and places where the tissue was removed. At least she was on lots of nice drugs! Both cousins K and G went down to Newport Beach for that weekend when Ka got home from the hospital. Today she finally got the results back from her biopsy on the stuff that was removed and thank goddess, her excellent surgeon got all of the margins and the equal amounts on the right side so all of the tumor has been removed completely. Yay! She is in really good spirits as of right now and is thinking very positively I'm sure. :) We all feel much better about all of this now. I think G and K are still there and Gr is supposed to be up this coming weekend I believe. Now she just has to get through Chemo, having her hair fall out and radiation. Obviously this can be pretty rough too but she feels lucky to be past the part where you keep waiting on news.
Other news, include: Kineivel turned 5 on August 9th. I still remember today seeing him on that curb on the side of the road and watching C catch him and scooping him up in my arms, listening to his tiny purr. He is the purrmeister today, as his purr has different tones but I was woken yesterday by his loud, impressive purrs, as he exclaimed his excitement that it had finally cooled off weather wise and he could go back to taking naps that resemble hibernation under the fuzzy fleece horse blanket that is on my bed.
*It is now official!!! I am moving to Portland for sure, sometime around the end of January. I promised my loyal pet sitting clients that I would stay here through the holidays so that they could plan their holidays and I also have one last job beginning of Jan. I will for sure be having a great big 'Going Away' party/bash and you'll get invites in December sometime! I'm looking at housing now and I will be in Portland from October 7th until the morning of the 12th. I'm taking advantage of flying, since I can't drive that far alone and I just want to get there, instead of doing a drive that takes all day and night. I can't wait, as it is much needed and I need to look at some housing options and visit with friends/new friends. :)
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Why I refuse to watch The Dog Whisperer
Some people, mostly my mom and a few friends, know how strongly I feel about the guy in the show called The Dog Whisperer. I would hope that any kind, caring animal lover who watches or has watched this show, would be intelligent enough to realize that Millans' training techniques are inhumane and very cruel. The fact that thousands of so-called animal lovers and owners watch the show and praise the techniques used on the show, makes me incredibly upset and I usually just walk away if someone brings the show up. I have tried countless times to convince people that the show is only doing harm and it's teaching people to be cruel to their animals and cause them pain as a way of getting them to listen, to become scared of their owners. And after I have explained how the techniques used on the show were wrong and people were being misinformed about proper, humane ways of fixing behaviors and training problems, they will often brush me off and go on and on talking about how wonderful Ceser Millan is. Please! Gag me with a spoon. Are you serious???
So I was very happy when I found this article today, written by American Humane, which is an amazing organization who protects the rights of animals and children and goes out of their way to educate the public about cruel and inhumane treatments. They oversee filming laws in movies and videos that use animals and children, they advocate adoption and they are the people responsible for implementing emergency animal rescue relief in times of crisis, like when Hurricane Katrina stuck New Orleans. In September 2006 they wrote this article to the National Geographic channel, asking them to cancel the show. Here is what they wrote:
'Dog Whisperer' Training Approach More Harmful Than Helpful
Denver (September 6, 2006)
The training tactics featured on Cesar Millan's “Dog Whisperer” program are inhumane, outdated and improper, according to a letter sent yesterday to the National Geographic Channel by American Humane, the oldest national organization protecting children and animals.
In the letter, American Humane, which works to raise public awareness about responsible pet ownership and reduce the euthanasia of unwanted pets, expressed dismay over the “numerous inhumane training techniques” advocated by Cesar Millan on “Dog Whisperer.”
Several instances of cruel and dangerous treatment -- promoted by Millan as acceptable training methods -- were documented by American Humane, including one in which a dog was partially asphyxiated in an episode. In this instance, the fractious dog was pinned to the ground by its neck after first being “hung” by a collar incrementally tightened by Millan. Millan’s goal -- of subduing a fractious animal -- was accomplished by partially cutting off the blood supply to its brain.
The letter requests that National Geographic stop airing the program immediately and issue a statement explaining that the tactics featured on the program are inhumane, and it encourages National Geographic to begin developing programming that sets a positive example by featuring proper, humane animal training. In its letter, American Humane said: “We believe that achieving the goal of improving the way people interact with their pets would be far more successful and beneficial for the National Geographic Channel if it ceased sending the contradictory message that violent treatment of animals is acceptable.”
“As a forerunner in the movement towards humane dog training, we find the excessively rough handling of animals on the show and inhumane training methods to be potentially harmful for the animals and the people on the show,” said the letter’s author, Bill Torgerson, DVM, MBA, who is vice president of Animal Protection Services for American Humane. “It also does a disservice to all the show’s viewers by espousing an inaccurate message about what constitutes effective training and appropriate treatment of animals.”
Torgerson noted that the safety of a woman and her German shepherd were jeopardized in one episode by the use of an electric shock collar, which forced the tormented dog to redirect its aggression at its owner, biting her arm. “Furthermore, the television audience was never told that Mr. Millan was attempting to modify the dog’s behavior by causing pain with the shock collar,” he said.
What you read above has not been blown out of proportion, rather when the show first came out, as always when something animal related comes out, I sat down to watch it in hopes that I would be learning some new methods of animal training that I could apply in my own workings with dogs in my life and in my pet sitting business. But unfortunately I was appalled! I remember tears streaming down my cheeks and getting very angry and I didn't even watch the entire show. I got up, left the room and emailed The National Geographic channel about my thoughts and something about 'how dare they show a program that tells people it is okay to be cruel to their dogs. I never heard back from them but I also never watched the show again and I believe that by not supporting the show, I am making a difference. Now I just want to spread the word about the show and try to get the show pulled. So while this article was written 2 years ago, by us bombarding the channel website with emails, it would really help I think to bring this issue back to the present and advocate the cancellation of The Dog Whisperer.
Now and again, I talk to people and when I first met Heather and her dog Gracie - who happens to be a Katrina rescue dog - she asked me my opinion of The Dog Whisperer. I frowned and carefully told her my thoughts. To my surprise, she agreed with me. She told me about the show that she had first seen and that it was a case where the dog was scared of other dogs because it had had no social interaction with other dogs as a puppy and apparently the owner couldn't take her dog anyplace where other dogs were. In the show, when nothing else worked, Millan proceeded to use force to try to 'scare' the dog into submission. I had tried to wipe my memory of that show, but as it turns out, this was actually the episode that I had watched as well, so Heather told me what happened. Millan put this dog into a little fenced area, about 4 feet in circumference so the dog was trapped there and had no way of escaping. Dogs who have been abused should never be left trapped like that. Then he let loose about 5 or 6 different dogs, I think a few were his and the dogs just started barking at the dog in the fence and circling him and this poor dog was whimpering and just got down on the ground because there was nothing else he could do. He had the shit scared out of him and he was probably scarred for life after that incident. Millan proceeded to praise the dogs that were outside of the fence, for their behavior and he praised the dog inside the cage for submitting to Millan and his technique. Then he had the owner walk the dog over to another dog, both on leashes. This poor dogs' response was to immediately get down on the ground and cower, not making eye contact or acknowledging that there was another dog in its presence. Watching that made me so extremely sad and I was just appalled at the fact that they - whoever they is - would allow such a thing to be shown on public TV. But of course, I'm blown away by a lot of things that are shown on TV, even just basic cable. But don't get me started on that tangent.
So if you want to be a part of this cause, you can email National Geographic and tell them what you think of the show and why you want the show canceled. It makes a bigger difference when lots of people get together and contact a TV channel to get their opinions heard. So if you care, please take the time to do so.
National Geographics' contact info is: http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/contact. There is a form that you fill out. If you want to contact Millan himself and tell him how you feel about what he does, go here: http://www.cesarmillaninc.com/contact/. Thank you!
So I was very happy when I found this article today, written by American Humane, which is an amazing organization who protects the rights of animals and children and goes out of their way to educate the public about cruel and inhumane treatments. They oversee filming laws in movies and videos that use animals and children, they advocate adoption and they are the people responsible for implementing emergency animal rescue relief in times of crisis, like when Hurricane Katrina stuck New Orleans. In September 2006 they wrote this article to the National Geographic channel, asking them to cancel the show. Here is what they wrote:
'Dog Whisperer' Training Approach More Harmful Than Helpful
Denver (September 6, 2006)
The training tactics featured on Cesar Millan's “Dog Whisperer” program are inhumane, outdated and improper, according to a letter sent yesterday to the National Geographic Channel by American Humane, the oldest national organization protecting children and animals.
In the letter, American Humane, which works to raise public awareness about responsible pet ownership and reduce the euthanasia of unwanted pets, expressed dismay over the “numerous inhumane training techniques” advocated by Cesar Millan on “Dog Whisperer.”
Several instances of cruel and dangerous treatment -- promoted by Millan as acceptable training methods -- were documented by American Humane, including one in which a dog was partially asphyxiated in an episode. In this instance, the fractious dog was pinned to the ground by its neck after first being “hung” by a collar incrementally tightened by Millan. Millan’s goal -- of subduing a fractious animal -- was accomplished by partially cutting off the blood supply to its brain.
The letter requests that National Geographic stop airing the program immediately and issue a statement explaining that the tactics featured on the program are inhumane, and it encourages National Geographic to begin developing programming that sets a positive example by featuring proper, humane animal training. In its letter, American Humane said: “We believe that achieving the goal of improving the way people interact with their pets would be far more successful and beneficial for the National Geographic Channel if it ceased sending the contradictory message that violent treatment of animals is acceptable.”
“As a forerunner in the movement towards humane dog training, we find the excessively rough handling of animals on the show and inhumane training methods to be potentially harmful for the animals and the people on the show,” said the letter’s author, Bill Torgerson, DVM, MBA, who is vice president of Animal Protection Services for American Humane. “It also does a disservice to all the show’s viewers by espousing an inaccurate message about what constitutes effective training and appropriate treatment of animals.”
Torgerson noted that the safety of a woman and her German shepherd were jeopardized in one episode by the use of an electric shock collar, which forced the tormented dog to redirect its aggression at its owner, biting her arm. “Furthermore, the television audience was never told that Mr. Millan was attempting to modify the dog’s behavior by causing pain with the shock collar,” he said.
What you read above has not been blown out of proportion, rather when the show first came out, as always when something animal related comes out, I sat down to watch it in hopes that I would be learning some new methods of animal training that I could apply in my own workings with dogs in my life and in my pet sitting business. But unfortunately I was appalled! I remember tears streaming down my cheeks and getting very angry and I didn't even watch the entire show. I got up, left the room and emailed The National Geographic channel about my thoughts and something about 'how dare they show a program that tells people it is okay to be cruel to their dogs. I never heard back from them but I also never watched the show again and I believe that by not supporting the show, I am making a difference. Now I just want to spread the word about the show and try to get the show pulled. So while this article was written 2 years ago, by us bombarding the channel website with emails, it would really help I think to bring this issue back to the present and advocate the cancellation of The Dog Whisperer.
Now and again, I talk to people and when I first met Heather and her dog Gracie - who happens to be a Katrina rescue dog - she asked me my opinion of The Dog Whisperer. I frowned and carefully told her my thoughts. To my surprise, she agreed with me. She told me about the show that she had first seen and that it was a case where the dog was scared of other dogs because it had had no social interaction with other dogs as a puppy and apparently the owner couldn't take her dog anyplace where other dogs were. In the show, when nothing else worked, Millan proceeded to use force to try to 'scare' the dog into submission. I had tried to wipe my memory of that show, but as it turns out, this was actually the episode that I had watched as well, so Heather told me what happened. Millan put this dog into a little fenced area, about 4 feet in circumference so the dog was trapped there and had no way of escaping. Dogs who have been abused should never be left trapped like that. Then he let loose about 5 or 6 different dogs, I think a few were his and the dogs just started barking at the dog in the fence and circling him and this poor dog was whimpering and just got down on the ground because there was nothing else he could do. He had the shit scared out of him and he was probably scarred for life after that incident. Millan proceeded to praise the dogs that were outside of the fence, for their behavior and he praised the dog inside the cage for submitting to Millan and his technique. Then he had the owner walk the dog over to another dog, both on leashes. This poor dogs' response was to immediately get down on the ground and cower, not making eye contact or acknowledging that there was another dog in its presence. Watching that made me so extremely sad and I was just appalled at the fact that they - whoever they is - would allow such a thing to be shown on public TV. But of course, I'm blown away by a lot of things that are shown on TV, even just basic cable. But don't get me started on that tangent.
So if you want to be a part of this cause, you can email National Geographic and tell them what you think of the show and why you want the show canceled. It makes a bigger difference when lots of people get together and contact a TV channel to get their opinions heard. So if you care, please take the time to do so.
National Geographics' contact info is: http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/contact. There is a form that you fill out. If you want to contact Millan himself and tell him how you feel about what he does, go here: http://www.cesarmillaninc.com/contact/. Thank you!
Monday, August 18, 2008
Michael Phelps is my new hero!
For those of you not watching the Olympics - and if you aren't, WHY??? - you are so missing out! Our country rocks the summer olympics this year. We have done so well. But I am happy to say that because of the Olympics I have a new hero - Michael Phelps. Not just because he's just done the impossible - won 8 gold medals in one Olympics and broken 8 world records in each of his 8 events. But because he is an amazing swimmer and he swims a lot like I do, at least in freestyle, with his shoulders up out of the water and leaves a powerful wake behind him. It has been so awesome and mind blowing watching him swim LIVE on TV and win so many things - plus out two men's relay teams did amazingly well and also broke world records in both of those events. At one relay, we were half a pool's length ahead of the rest of the field. Just amazing!
Here is a list of his medals:
Men's Swimming
Competitor for Flag of the United States United States
Olympic Games
Gold 2004 Athens 100 m butterfly
Gold 2004 Athens 200 m butterfly
Gold 2004 Athens 200 m individual medley
Gold 2004 Athens 400 m individual medley
Gold 2004 Athens 4 x 200 m freestyle relay
Gold 2004 Athens 4 x 100 m medley relay
Gold 2008 Beijing 200 m freestyle
Gold 2008 Beijing 100 m butterfly
Gold 2008 Beijing 200 m butterfly
Gold 2008 Beijing 200 m individual medley
Gold 2008 Beijing 400 m individual medley
Gold 2008 Beijing 4 x 100 m freestyle relay
Gold 2008 Beijing 4 x 200 m freestyle relay
Gold 2008 Beijing 4 x 100 m medley relay
Bronze 2004 Athens 200 m freestyle
Bronze 2004 Athens 4 x 100 m freestyle relay
Here's a link to news on his 8th Gold Medal. So cool!!! http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/08/17/sports/OLYPHELPS.php?WT.mc_id=glob_mrktg_lnk1&WT.mc_ev=click
Here is a news video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emzsB1b2cWw
And lastly, on this site, under Swimming, you can watch Phelps win all 8 Golds! http://www.nbcolympics.com/racefortherecord/
:)
Here is a list of his medals:
Men's Swimming
Competitor for Flag of the United States United States
Olympic Games
Gold 2004 Athens 100 m butterfly
Gold 2004 Athens 200 m butterfly
Gold 2004 Athens 200 m individual medley
Gold 2004 Athens 400 m individual medley
Gold 2004 Athens 4 x 200 m freestyle relay
Gold 2004 Athens 4 x 100 m medley relay
Gold 2008 Beijing 200 m freestyle
Gold 2008 Beijing 100 m butterfly
Gold 2008 Beijing 200 m butterfly
Gold 2008 Beijing 200 m individual medley
Gold 2008 Beijing 400 m individual medley
Gold 2008 Beijing 4 x 100 m freestyle relay
Gold 2008 Beijing 4 x 200 m freestyle relay
Gold 2008 Beijing 4 x 100 m medley relay
Bronze 2004 Athens 200 m freestyle
Bronze 2004 Athens 4 x 100 m freestyle relay
Here's a link to news on his 8th Gold Medal. So cool!!! http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/08/17/sports/OLYPHELPS.php?WT.mc_id=glob_mrktg_lnk1&WT.mc_ev=click
Here is a news video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emzsB1b2cWw
And lastly, on this site, under Swimming, you can watch Phelps win all 8 Golds! http://www.nbcolympics.com/racefortherecord/
:)
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Recent California fires
These are a collection of shots taken during the recent Calif fires. So sad how much has burned and has prevented me and others from going camping as well as canceling many different endurance rides :(
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/07/californias_continuing_fires.html
Glad they are starting to go out!
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/07/californias_continuing_fires.html
Glad they are starting to go out!
Monday, June 16, 2008
Please help America's race horses!
*I was sent this via email. Please read it over and please sign the petition to help race horses!*
America's Race Horses Need Protection
Every year, hundreds of race horses suffer career ending and even fatal injuries on race tracks across the country. The recent, high-profile deaths of Eight Belles and Barbaro put a spotlight on the high risk faced by these majestic animals, who are literally "run to death" in some cases. Take action to protect America's race horses.
Currently, only a handful of states ban the use of steroids in horse racing, but most states do not. Decisions regarding track surfaces, young horses racing while their bones are still developing, and other horse welfare concerns are made on a state-by-state basis, resulting in widely varying degrees of protection across our country.
Fortunately, Congress is considering the formation of a national commission to address these concerns and provide uniform regulation of the horse racing industry.
TAKE ACTION
Please make a brief, polite phone call to your U.S. Representative, Pete Stark, at (202) 225-5065 to urge support for a national commission to protect our race horses.
When you call, you will likely speak to a staff member who will pass your message along to your legislator. Remember to be polite and professional, and leave your name and address so it is clear that you are a constituent. You can say:
"Hello, my name is [your name] and I am calling from [your city] to ask Representative Stark to support the formation of a national commission to oversee horse racing. Thank you."
After making your call, please send a follow-up email to Congress in support of national oversight of the horse racing industry. And don't forget to tell your friends and family how they can protect horses, too.
Go online and sign the petition: https://community.hsus.org/campaign/FED_2008_horseracing/5ubuu3r07wddn5w?
Thank you for all you do for animals.
Sincerely,
Mike Markarian
Executive Vice President
The Humane Society of the United States
America's Race Horses Need Protection
Every year, hundreds of race horses suffer career ending and even fatal injuries on race tracks across the country. The recent, high-profile deaths of Eight Belles and Barbaro put a spotlight on the high risk faced by these majestic animals, who are literally "run to death" in some cases. Take action to protect America's race horses.
Currently, only a handful of states ban the use of steroids in horse racing, but most states do not. Decisions regarding track surfaces, young horses racing while their bones are still developing, and other horse welfare concerns are made on a state-by-state basis, resulting in widely varying degrees of protection across our country.
Fortunately, Congress is considering the formation of a national commission to address these concerns and provide uniform regulation of the horse racing industry.
TAKE ACTION
Please make a brief, polite phone call to your U.S. Representative, Pete Stark, at (202) 225-5065 to urge support for a national commission to protect our race horses.
When you call, you will likely speak to a staff member who will pass your message along to your legislator. Remember to be polite and professional, and leave your name and address so it is clear that you are a constituent. You can say:
"Hello, my name is [your name] and I am calling from [your city] to ask Representative Stark to support the formation of a national commission to oversee horse racing. Thank you."
After making your call, please send a follow-up email to Congress in support of national oversight of the horse racing industry. And don't forget to tell your friends and family how they can protect horses, too.
Go online and sign the petition: https://community.hsus.org/campaign/FED_2008_horseracing/5ubuu3r07wddn5w?
Thank you for all you do for animals.
Sincerely,
Mike Markarian
Executive Vice President
The Humane Society of the United States
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Pain medications and 'addiction fears'
This is an issue that hits close to home for me, as family and friends have long since continued to express fear about my pain meds or the amounts that I sometimes have to take, as being an issue later on and possibly causing me to be addicted to them. Due to this 'fear of addiction' I have met many people, including family members & friends, who are in so much pain that they should be on regular pain meds but refuse to take them because they are scared of becoming 'addicted' to their prescribed medications. Not only does this do more harm in the body, but it puts those people in great amounts of stress and ultimately makes them worse in the long run. I'm a big advocate of trying to educated the public and also ignorant medical professionals about the fact that those in pain need the meds that helps the pain and their medication access should never be taken away because of some stereotype that has been placed on pain meds. Your doctor knows what is best for you and when he/she prescribes a powerful pain relief medication, it's for a reason. As long as you take your medication as directed, as I do, you're going to be fine. This also applies to those who may have the so-called 'addictive personality' running in their family; I don't believe that this causes a higher risk for addiction to pain medications or any other medications. People who are in real pain are not trying to get 'high' from their medications, they are getting relief for their pain. Research has shown that even people who have suffered long term chronic pain, sometimes most of their lives, are able to slowly go off of their medications under the direction of their doctors and then they don't need the medication anymore because they are not in the same amount of pain when they have gotten much better. Please read the following article, which has new research about this same issue. Please don't listen to every stereotype that you hear of and rather try to think for yourself, get the facts before you judge. This article includes great information about how to prevent addiction and how medical doctors should always watch their patients closely for any signs of oncoming addictive behaviors. When asked, I explain to people that yes I'm on some very powerful pain meds, some every day and other on an as-needed basis but I also have to see my doctor once every 3 months in order to obtain new prescriptions for those medications. So my doctor is constantly monitoring my progress and we discuss everything that is going on with me at each appointment. This is so important for the pain patient. So if you are in pain and are considering asking your doctor about pain medications, don't be afraid to ask. Tell your doctor your concerns around addiction and how to prevent it. Don't ever hide those types of fears from your doctor. He/she is there to help you and to provide the care and treatments you need to get better and to be in less pain. Thank you!
Whitney :)
Chronic Pain Meds Unlikely to Cause Addiction
By MedHeadlines • May 9th, 2008 • Category: Drugs, Headlines, Medical Research, Neurology, Pain
The general population and many in the medical community alike harbor the popular opinion that using strong pain medications, including opioids, for long-term, chronic pain puts the patient at high risk of developing an addiction to the pain medications. A report presented recently at the annual meeting of the American Pain Society (APS) reveals evidence to the contrary.
pain medsSrinivasa Raja, MD, a professor of anesthesiology at Johns Hopkins University Medical School, reports that less than 3% of all patients suffering from chronic pain and who have no history of abusing drugs of any kind may eventually show signs of dependence or abuse when taking these medications pain relief. He urged the medical community to keep this very small percentage of risk in mind when establishing policies for prescribing such medications to patients who are far more likely to benefit from them than be endangered by them.
Raja also points to media attention surrounding an increase in the abuse of such medications but says these drugs are easily obtained from unregulated internet pharmacies and through theft and forgery of prescriptions, not just from within the legitimate medical establishment. While the established medical community is not the sole source of supply for these medications, Raja urges diligent communication between physician and patient, with patient screening procedures to identify addictive or potentially abusive behaviors becoming a routine part of the prescription and follow-up phases of treatment.
Raja further calls for uniformity in state and federal drug regulations and praises the teen drug awareness campaigns underway across the country as a means of preventing abuse of this type of drug. Raja says collaboration from the healthcare community, law enforcement agencies, and the pharmaceutical industry is needed to ensure people who need them will be allowed continued access to these medications, especially in the many cases where the benefits far exceed the risk of dependency.
Alternative treatments such as cognitive behavior and physical therapies should be used to supplement pain medications whenever possible, according to Raja. He says using this multi-faceted approach to pain management is much more effective than relying only on pain medications as the sole means of relief in most cases.
In his address to the APS, Raja cited past beliefs about pain that have been disproved by scientific evidence, such as that babies didn’t feel pain and therefore didn’t need anesthesia and that cancer patients should eschew the most potent and effective pain medications due to the supposed risk of addiction. These outdated beliefs have been proven wrong and he feels the fear of addiction should be abandoned as well in favor of effective treatment for pain management without the stigma of potential addiction influencing treatment options.
Source: American Pain Society
Whitney :)
Chronic Pain Meds Unlikely to Cause Addiction
By MedHeadlines • May 9th, 2008 • Category: Drugs, Headlines, Medical Research, Neurology, Pain
The general population and many in the medical community alike harbor the popular opinion that using strong pain medications, including opioids, for long-term, chronic pain puts the patient at high risk of developing an addiction to the pain medications. A report presented recently at the annual meeting of the American Pain Society (APS) reveals evidence to the contrary.
pain medsSrinivasa Raja, MD, a professor of anesthesiology at Johns Hopkins University Medical School, reports that less than 3% of all patients suffering from chronic pain and who have no history of abusing drugs of any kind may eventually show signs of dependence or abuse when taking these medications pain relief. He urged the medical community to keep this very small percentage of risk in mind when establishing policies for prescribing such medications to patients who are far more likely to benefit from them than be endangered by them.
Raja also points to media attention surrounding an increase in the abuse of such medications but says these drugs are easily obtained from unregulated internet pharmacies and through theft and forgery of prescriptions, not just from within the legitimate medical establishment. While the established medical community is not the sole source of supply for these medications, Raja urges diligent communication between physician and patient, with patient screening procedures to identify addictive or potentially abusive behaviors becoming a routine part of the prescription and follow-up phases of treatment.
Raja further calls for uniformity in state and federal drug regulations and praises the teen drug awareness campaigns underway across the country as a means of preventing abuse of this type of drug. Raja says collaboration from the healthcare community, law enforcement agencies, and the pharmaceutical industry is needed to ensure people who need them will be allowed continued access to these medications, especially in the many cases where the benefits far exceed the risk of dependency.
Alternative treatments such as cognitive behavior and physical therapies should be used to supplement pain medications whenever possible, according to Raja. He says using this multi-faceted approach to pain management is much more effective than relying only on pain medications as the sole means of relief in most cases.
In his address to the APS, Raja cited past beliefs about pain that have been disproved by scientific evidence, such as that babies didn’t feel pain and therefore didn’t need anesthesia and that cancer patients should eschew the most potent and effective pain medications due to the supposed risk of addiction. These outdated beliefs have been proven wrong and he feels the fear of addiction should be abandoned as well in favor of effective treatment for pain management without the stigma of potential addiction influencing treatment options.
Source: American Pain Society
Monday, March 10, 2008
I know it's been a while - the impact of not being believed!
I know i haven't posted in a while. A lot of things have been happening in my life, mostly good but some bad too. As is life!
Currently I'm struggling to live at home, mostly because my mom has once again decided NOT to believe how much pain I suffer from every single day. H says to take her words with a grain of salt but it's still hard and it still hurts! Ever had a parent break your heart? Then you know what I'm talking about. She says my pain and other symptoms are just 'excuses'. Well they aren't and I'm not sure how much more of this crap I can take from her. I don't want to push my move to Portland but I don't know what else to do. I can't live like this. I've started avoiding my own house! How fucked up is that!?! I really thought we were getting along but because I don't live my life the way she thinks I should, with her rules and her schedule - gee, sorry mom, I have my own life! and I'm 30 years old or did you forget that!?! So I'm considering either a) finding a bunch of overnight housesitting jobs on the Peninsula, to be close to my new friend CR there and her horses that I get to ride and that is helping more than I ever thought it would. Or find housing in exchange for pet sitting, which may happen in a couple of months too. Or b) save as fast as I can, ignore my mom, which is hard to do, relish the times that she is gone and deal with it the best that I can or just not be home very often and then move to Portland as soon as I can, which right now won't be until end of this year or beginning of 2009. Need to save 1st, last and pet deposit anyway, so i figure $1500 at least and also talk to J to see if she will consider Portland instead of Seattle and be my roommate :)
On another bad note, I found out that my best friend J, who lives near Seattle has to have surgery, which she had last week, for a grapefruit sized cyst that she had on an ovary. She's okay, though she lost the right one and is just taking forever to heal. She also has Fibro plus MPS and some other issues. So she's better and I didn't need to go visit her but I was quite concerned for about two weeks.
And on top of all of that, I'm also now dealing with the upsetting reality of the memory of something that happened to me over two years ago now. I didn't tell anyone about it, which I know is dumb. We, as women, always say that if such and such ever happens to us, that we'd be able to report it or tell soemone about it right away, even if it means getting someone you thought you liked or cared about hauled off to jail. Well for some reason, I dealt with it by hiding, keeping my mouth shut out of fear and then blocking it from my memory. It ruined my relationship with the only person I've ever loved and will always love, becuase I couldn't tell him, because of a stupid fear that he wouldn't believe me (even though that fear was realistic at the time); my parents and closest friends don't even know. I see movies about it all the time and ask myself why?! It's weird when you literally block a memory. But now it's been coming back and last night I had a nightmare about it, woke up in a cold sweat, alone. Then spent all of today in tears and dealing with being super anxious. Of course, it doesn't help that I'm low on Effexxor and can't get more until Wed. I can't afford to see my therapist right now so that makes the situation almost impossible to deal with. I think I need to tell my closest friends who are girls - not that I have any guy friends anymore anyway - but I need to just get it out, have someone show me that they believe me. And then go from there! I wish this feeling on no one. But I felt that I needed to write this here, to get it out.
Here is an article I just found, regarding the impact of how it feels and how it makes pain patients or anyone feel, when someone doesn't believe you:
The Impact of Not Being Believed
Monday March 3, 2008
"I just wish someone would believe me!"
How often have you said or thought that? Disbelief or skepticism about fibromyalgia (FMS) and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS or ME/CFS) is something most of us are all too familiar with, and if you've experienced it yourself, you don't need a study to tell you how painful it can be.
Wouldn't it be great, though, if someone would tell your doctors how detrimental it is for them to dismiss your pain? I was delighted to see a chronic pain study out of Wales that does tell them. (While this study was only on chronic pain, I don't think it's a stretch to say the findings would apply to fatigue and other "invisible" symptoms.)
Of a group of 8 people in the study, only 2 said they had no problem getting health-care workers to accept their word on pain, and those two people also had visible disabilities. Stories from the other 6 included doctors denying pain medication, shouting at them for taking more pain killers than prescribed, and even blatantly saying, "I don't believe you," and walking out.
Those actions left them with feelings that (no surprise to us!) included anger frustration, isolation, depression and thoughts of suicide.
The study concludes that doctors and other health professionals just need to believe what their patients say when it comes to pain, bringing up a definition of pain coined 40 years ago by Margo McCaffery, a chronic-pain nursing consultant: "Pain is whatever the experiencing person says it is, existing whenever the experiencing person says it does." The logic is simple, but the implications to our treatment would be profound.
The final paragraph sums up what practitioners can do to avoid all these problems:
These simple means are: active listening; being non-judgemental; accepting the pain experience as credible as recounted by patients; and thus showing to patients that the relationship is based on caring and empathy. While these may be considered mundane and accepted practice, it is vitally important not to overlook the impact they have on patients with chronic pain.
Currently I'm struggling to live at home, mostly because my mom has once again decided NOT to believe how much pain I suffer from every single day. H says to take her words with a grain of salt but it's still hard and it still hurts! Ever had a parent break your heart? Then you know what I'm talking about. She says my pain and other symptoms are just 'excuses'. Well they aren't and I'm not sure how much more of this crap I can take from her. I don't want to push my move to Portland but I don't know what else to do. I can't live like this. I've started avoiding my own house! How fucked up is that!?! I really thought we were getting along but because I don't live my life the way she thinks I should, with her rules and her schedule - gee, sorry mom, I have my own life! and I'm 30 years old or did you forget that!?! So I'm considering either a) finding a bunch of overnight housesitting jobs on the Peninsula, to be close to my new friend CR there and her horses that I get to ride and that is helping more than I ever thought it would. Or find housing in exchange for pet sitting, which may happen in a couple of months too. Or b) save as fast as I can, ignore my mom, which is hard to do, relish the times that she is gone and deal with it the best that I can or just not be home very often and then move to Portland as soon as I can, which right now won't be until end of this year or beginning of 2009. Need to save 1st, last and pet deposit anyway, so i figure $1500 at least and also talk to J to see if she will consider Portland instead of Seattle and be my roommate :)
On another bad note, I found out that my best friend J, who lives near Seattle has to have surgery, which she had last week, for a grapefruit sized cyst that she had on an ovary. She's okay, though she lost the right one and is just taking forever to heal. She also has Fibro plus MPS and some other issues. So she's better and I didn't need to go visit her but I was quite concerned for about two weeks.
And on top of all of that, I'm also now dealing with the upsetting reality of the memory of something that happened to me over two years ago now. I didn't tell anyone about it, which I know is dumb. We, as women, always say that if such and such ever happens to us, that we'd be able to report it or tell soemone about it right away, even if it means getting someone you thought you liked or cared about hauled off to jail. Well for some reason, I dealt with it by hiding, keeping my mouth shut out of fear and then blocking it from my memory. It ruined my relationship with the only person I've ever loved and will always love, becuase I couldn't tell him, because of a stupid fear that he wouldn't believe me (even though that fear was realistic at the time); my parents and closest friends don't even know. I see movies about it all the time and ask myself why?! It's weird when you literally block a memory. But now it's been coming back and last night I had a nightmare about it, woke up in a cold sweat, alone. Then spent all of today in tears and dealing with being super anxious. Of course, it doesn't help that I'm low on Effexxor and can't get more until Wed. I can't afford to see my therapist right now so that makes the situation almost impossible to deal with. I think I need to tell my closest friends who are girls - not that I have any guy friends anymore anyway - but I need to just get it out, have someone show me that they believe me. And then go from there! I wish this feeling on no one. But I felt that I needed to write this here, to get it out.
Here is an article I just found, regarding the impact of how it feels and how it makes pain patients or anyone feel, when someone doesn't believe you:
The Impact of Not Being Believed
Monday March 3, 2008
"I just wish someone would believe me!"
How often have you said or thought that? Disbelief or skepticism about fibromyalgia (FMS) and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS or ME/CFS) is something most of us are all too familiar with, and if you've experienced it yourself, you don't need a study to tell you how painful it can be.
Wouldn't it be great, though, if someone would tell your doctors how detrimental it is for them to dismiss your pain? I was delighted to see a chronic pain study out of Wales that does tell them. (While this study was only on chronic pain, I don't think it's a stretch to say the findings would apply to fatigue and other "invisible" symptoms.)
Of a group of 8 people in the study, only 2 said they had no problem getting health-care workers to accept their word on pain, and those two people also had visible disabilities. Stories from the other 6 included doctors denying pain medication, shouting at them for taking more pain killers than prescribed, and even blatantly saying, "I don't believe you," and walking out.
Those actions left them with feelings that (no surprise to us!) included anger frustration, isolation, depression and thoughts of suicide.
The study concludes that doctors and other health professionals just need to believe what their patients say when it comes to pain, bringing up a definition of pain coined 40 years ago by Margo McCaffery, a chronic-pain nursing consultant: "Pain is whatever the experiencing person says it is, existing whenever the experiencing person says it does." The logic is simple, but the implications to our treatment would be profound.
The final paragraph sums up what practitioners can do to avoid all these problems:
These simple means are: active listening; being non-judgemental; accepting the pain experience as credible as recounted by patients; and thus showing to patients that the relationship is based on caring and empathy. While these may be considered mundane and accepted practice, it is vitally important not to overlook the impact they have on patients with chronic pain.
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Things that make me happy! - Part 1
SWEET!!!! I am so excited. I don't think anyone knows this but for years I've had my eye out for anyone 'preferably' giving away rather than selling, back issues of OMNI - which is one of my all time favorite magazines from my past. I think I was in high school when they stopped publishing and that was a very bad day for me, I remember it well. So I subscribe to Freecycle - Alameda and East Bay area. Sometimes people who don't live in the East Bay still post their items on that list and I don't always check it because of that - there have been times where I wanted to get an item but that meant going out to Pittsburg or some other boon-dock type place.
Fortunately I looked at the post from yesterday and, what do you know, there's a couple in Pacifica giving away 4 huge boxes of their entire collection of OMNI. It would have meant me driving all the way to Pacifica, which I was willing to do because it would have been worth the trip, but now it looks like I'll be able to meet the wife at her place of work in Oakland. I am so incredibly psyched!! I am a huge sci-fi and real science fan, not to mention that for those of us who truly believe in the paranormal, this was THE magazine for you. Unfortunately I still have yet to come across anything that can be compared to it today :(. So, in a few days, I will be the proud owner of a collection of OMNI magazines. I will not be scrap booking these, unless some are in un-collectable condition but hope to keep most as my own personal collection. I am really excited to re-start my own research on some particular subjects, and read the information that OMNI exclusively put out on those topics in their issues, many of which, I never got to read. This wasn't tabloid type material, this was pure truth for real believers + excellent reading material from some really fabulous sci-fi writers. For those interested in knowing more, here is the information I pulled up from Wiki:
Omni (magazine)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
OMNI was both a science magazine and science fiction magazine. It contained articles on science fact and short works of science fiction. The first issue was published in October 1978, the last in Winter 1995, with an Internet version lasting until 1998. Bob Guccione described the magazine in its first issue as "an original if not controversial mixture of science fact, fiction, fantasy and the paranormal"[1]
History
OMNI was launched by Kathy Keeton Guccione, wife of Penthouse magazine publisher Bob Guccione, and edited by Ben Bova from 1978 until 1981. Before launch it was referred to as Nova, but the name was changed before the first issue to avoid a conflict with the PBS science show of the same name, NOVA.[2] After Bova left, Editors of OMNI included Richard Teresi, Gurney Williams III, Patrice Adcroft, Keith Ferrell, and Pamela Weintraub (editor of OMNI Internet). Kathleen Stein managed the magazine's prestigious Q&A interviews with the top scientists of the 20th century through 1998. Ellen Datlow was fiction editor of OMNI from the time Bova stepped down in 1981 until the magazine folded in 1998 and Sherry Baker was the Continuum editor, now working as a freelance editor and writer in Atlanta, Georgia. The very first edition had an exclusive interview with renowned physicist, Freeman Dyson, the second edition with American writer and futurist, Alvin Toffler.
OMNI developed a dual personality during its life. In its early run, its high circulation (permitting payment for stories many times higher than that of other science fiction magazines), coupled with some outstanding fiction editors, allowed it to attract prominent speculative fiction writers, and it published a number of stories that have become genre classics, such as Orson Scott Card's "Unaccompanied Sonata", William Gibson's "Burning Chrome" including Johnny Mnemonic" and George R. R. Martin's "The Way of Cross and Dragon". The magazine also serialized Stephen King's novel Firestarter, and featured a short story, "The End of the Whole Mess". OMNI also brought the works of numerous painters to the attention of a large audience, such as H.R. Giger and De Es Schwertberger.
The bulk of the magazine, meanwhile, profiled science and scientists with a visionary, gonzo-style science journalism rooted in story-telling, credibility, and authorial voice. OMNI's Q&A Interviews constituted a collective oral history of 20th-century science told by the world's greatest thinkers in areas from evolutionary biology to chaos theory to space. OMNI celebrated science with an edgy entertaining patter and irreverence. OMNI 's pro-technology orientation has been compared to the later magazine Wired.
OMNI entered the market at the start of a wave of new science magazines aimed at educated but otherwise "non-professional" readers. Science Digest and Science News already served the high-school market, and Scientific American and New Scientist the professional, while OMNI was arguably the first aimed at "armchair scientists" who were nevertheless well informed about technical issues. The next year, however, Time introduced Discover while the AAAS introduced Science '80. Advertising dollars were spread between the different magazines, and those without deep pockets soon folded in the early 1980s, notably Science Digest, while Science '80 merged with Discover. OMNI appeared to weather this storm better than most, likely due to its wider selection of contents.
In its later years, especially the last year or two of the print publication, OMNI was criticized for weighting its coverage more toward pseudo-scientific topics like UFOs and ESP. Some have speculated that this may have been an effort to increase circulation during leaner years, but the strategy backfired. Though OMNI 's treatment of these topics was essentially skeptical, the weighting nonetheless damaged its credibility and led, in part, to its demise. Guccione shut down the print version of the magazine following the Winter 1995 issue due to waning popularity and the many financial difficulties plaguing his company, General Media.
After the print magazine folded in 1996, the OMNI Internet webzine was launched. Free of pressure to focus on fringe science areas, OMNI returned to its roots as the home of gonzo science writing, becoming one of the first large-scale venues to deliver a journalism geared specifically to cyberspace, complete with real-time coverage of major science events, chats and blogs with scientific luminaries, and interactive experiments that users could join. The world's top science fiction writers also joined in, writing collaborative fiction pieces for OMNI's readers live online. *You can see the website and updated blog here: http://www.omnimagonline.com
Though the website generated large traffic, it did not turn a profit. In 1998, Kathy Keeton, whose vision inspired OMNI, died from complications of breast cancer, the staff of OMNI Internet was laid off, and no new content was added to the website. General Media shut the site down and removed the OMNI archives from the Internet in 2003.
TV
A short-lived syndicated television show based on the magazine's format (and called OMNI: The New Frontier) aired in the United States beginning in September 1981, hosted by Peter Ustinov. A French voice over of the show appeared on "Radio Québec" in Canada during 1994.
References in Popular Culture
* In The Fly, Stathis threatens to send Veronica's teleportation story to OMNI -- his own publication, PARTICLE magazine, created for the film, is a clear nod to OMNI.
* In the 1989 romantic film Say Anything, Diane Court has an issue in her bedroom next to her desk. There is also an issue visible in the garbage can in the background when James Court is sitting in the bathtub after having his credit cards declined.
* In Ghostbusters, the Proton Pack appears on a fictional front cover of the magazine.
* In 2010: The Year We Make Contact, a future OMNI issue appeared in front of Roy Scheider on the beach.
* In Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, a fellow passenger can be seen reading OMNI magazine on the bus that Kirk and Spock take across the Golden Gate Bridge.
* On the 2005 album Robot Hive/Exodus by the band Clutch, the song "Mice and Gods" references OMNI Magazine in the very first line of the song.
* In the film Jurassic Park, Tim Murphy mentions having read an article by Alan Grant in Omni magazine.
Part 2 coming soon!!!!
Fortunately I looked at the post from yesterday and, what do you know, there's a couple in Pacifica giving away 4 huge boxes of their entire collection of OMNI. It would have meant me driving all the way to Pacifica, which I was willing to do because it would have been worth the trip, but now it looks like I'll be able to meet the wife at her place of work in Oakland. I am so incredibly psyched!! I am a huge sci-fi and real science fan, not to mention that for those of us who truly believe in the paranormal, this was THE magazine for you. Unfortunately I still have yet to come across anything that can be compared to it today :(. So, in a few days, I will be the proud owner of a collection of OMNI magazines. I will not be scrap booking these, unless some are in un-collectable condition but hope to keep most as my own personal collection. I am really excited to re-start my own research on some particular subjects, and read the information that OMNI exclusively put out on those topics in their issues, many of which, I never got to read. This wasn't tabloid type material, this was pure truth for real believers + excellent reading material from some really fabulous sci-fi writers. For those interested in knowing more, here is the information I pulled up from Wiki:
Omni (magazine)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
OMNI was both a science magazine and science fiction magazine. It contained articles on science fact and short works of science fiction. The first issue was published in October 1978, the last in Winter 1995, with an Internet version lasting until 1998. Bob Guccione described the magazine in its first issue as "an original if not controversial mixture of science fact, fiction, fantasy and the paranormal"[1]
History
OMNI was launched by Kathy Keeton Guccione, wife of Penthouse magazine publisher Bob Guccione, and edited by Ben Bova from 1978 until 1981. Before launch it was referred to as Nova, but the name was changed before the first issue to avoid a conflict with the PBS science show of the same name, NOVA.[2] After Bova left, Editors of OMNI included Richard Teresi, Gurney Williams III, Patrice Adcroft, Keith Ferrell, and Pamela Weintraub (editor of OMNI Internet). Kathleen Stein managed the magazine's prestigious Q&A interviews with the top scientists of the 20th century through 1998. Ellen Datlow was fiction editor of OMNI from the time Bova stepped down in 1981 until the magazine folded in 1998 and Sherry Baker was the Continuum editor, now working as a freelance editor and writer in Atlanta, Georgia. The very first edition had an exclusive interview with renowned physicist, Freeman Dyson, the second edition with American writer and futurist, Alvin Toffler.
OMNI developed a dual personality during its life. In its early run, its high circulation (permitting payment for stories many times higher than that of other science fiction magazines), coupled with some outstanding fiction editors, allowed it to attract prominent speculative fiction writers, and it published a number of stories that have become genre classics, such as Orson Scott Card's "Unaccompanied Sonata", William Gibson's "Burning Chrome" including Johnny Mnemonic" and George R. R. Martin's "The Way of Cross and Dragon". The magazine also serialized Stephen King's novel Firestarter, and featured a short story, "The End of the Whole Mess". OMNI also brought the works of numerous painters to the attention of a large audience, such as H.R. Giger and De Es Schwertberger.
The bulk of the magazine, meanwhile, profiled science and scientists with a visionary, gonzo-style science journalism rooted in story-telling, credibility, and authorial voice. OMNI's Q&A Interviews constituted a collective oral history of 20th-century science told by the world's greatest thinkers in areas from evolutionary biology to chaos theory to space. OMNI celebrated science with an edgy entertaining patter and irreverence. OMNI 's pro-technology orientation has been compared to the later magazine Wired.
OMNI entered the market at the start of a wave of new science magazines aimed at educated but otherwise "non-professional" readers. Science Digest and Science News already served the high-school market, and Scientific American and New Scientist the professional, while OMNI was arguably the first aimed at "armchair scientists" who were nevertheless well informed about technical issues. The next year, however, Time introduced Discover while the AAAS introduced Science '80. Advertising dollars were spread between the different magazines, and those without deep pockets soon folded in the early 1980s, notably Science Digest, while Science '80 merged with Discover. OMNI appeared to weather this storm better than most, likely due to its wider selection of contents.
In its later years, especially the last year or two of the print publication, OMNI was criticized for weighting its coverage more toward pseudo-scientific topics like UFOs and ESP. Some have speculated that this may have been an effort to increase circulation during leaner years, but the strategy backfired. Though OMNI 's treatment of these topics was essentially skeptical, the weighting nonetheless damaged its credibility and led, in part, to its demise. Guccione shut down the print version of the magazine following the Winter 1995 issue due to waning popularity and the many financial difficulties plaguing his company, General Media.
After the print magazine folded in 1996, the OMNI Internet webzine was launched. Free of pressure to focus on fringe science areas, OMNI returned to its roots as the home of gonzo science writing, becoming one of the first large-scale venues to deliver a journalism geared specifically to cyberspace, complete with real-time coverage of major science events, chats and blogs with scientific luminaries, and interactive experiments that users could join. The world's top science fiction writers also joined in, writing collaborative fiction pieces for OMNI's readers live online. *You can see the website and updated blog here: http://www.omnimagonline.com
Though the website generated large traffic, it did not turn a profit. In 1998, Kathy Keeton, whose vision inspired OMNI, died from complications of breast cancer, the staff of OMNI Internet was laid off, and no new content was added to the website. General Media shut the site down and removed the OMNI archives from the Internet in 2003.
TV
A short-lived syndicated television show based on the magazine's format (and called OMNI: The New Frontier) aired in the United States beginning in September 1981, hosted by Peter Ustinov. A French voice over of the show appeared on "Radio Québec" in Canada during 1994.
References in Popular Culture
* In The Fly, Stathis threatens to send Veronica's teleportation story to OMNI -- his own publication, PARTICLE magazine, created for the film, is a clear nod to OMNI.
* In the 1989 romantic film Say Anything, Diane Court has an issue in her bedroom next to her desk. There is also an issue visible in the garbage can in the background when James Court is sitting in the bathtub after having his credit cards declined.
* In Ghostbusters, the Proton Pack appears on a fictional front cover of the magazine.
* In 2010: The Year We Make Contact, a future OMNI issue appeared in front of Roy Scheider on the beach.
* In Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, a fellow passenger can be seen reading OMNI magazine on the bus that Kirk and Spock take across the Golden Gate Bridge.
* On the 2005 album Robot Hive/Exodus by the band Clutch, the song "Mice and Gods" references OMNI Magazine in the very first line of the song.
* In the film Jurassic Park, Tim Murphy mentions having read an article by Alan Grant in Omni magazine.
Part 2 coming soon!!!!
Sunday, January 6, 2008
Resource for free chronic pain & relaxation guidance podcasts
I just found this wonderful resource and I really think it could benefit anyone like myself who cannot really do meditation without being guided. I have checked out this link, the site and the podcasts and they are free and legit. I hope they help anyone in any type of chronic pain OR just for those who need to learn how to relax!
Hi
My name is Jason Newland and I provide free relaxation and chronic
pain relief services online.
On my website I have free video and audios that anyone can listen to
and download, anywhere in the world.
All my services are completely free and I am not gaining
financially, whatsoever.
I now have 19 free audio sessions for relaxation & chronic pain
relief
Please visit my website:
www.jasonnewland.com
to watch or listen to my free videos and audios for relaxation and
Chronic pain relief
Video Session 1 - Relaxation Session - 180207
Video Session 2 - Relaxation Session - 170307
Video Session 3 - 10 minute Relaxation Session - 150407
Video Session 4 - 10 minute Relaxation Session - 250407
Video Session 5 - Relaxation Session - 120607
Video Session 6 - 10 minute chronic pain relief technique 1
Video Session 7 - 10 minute chronic pain relief technique 2
Audio Session 1 - Relaxation Session - 150107
Audio Session 2 - Body Awareness Session - 200107
Audio Session 3 - Relaxation Session - 090207
Audio Session 4 - Relaxation Session - 120207
Audio Session 5 - Relaxation Session - 160207
Audio Session 6 - Short Relaxation Session - 050207
Audio Session 7 - Short Relaxation Session - 010307
Audio Session 8 - Chronic Pain Relief Session - 190207
Audio Session 9 - Chronic Pain Relief Session - 120207
Audio Session 10 - Short Chronic Pain Relief Session -190207
Audio Session 11 - Short Chronic Pain Relief Session - 250207
Audio Session 12 - Relaxation Session - 120607
Audio Session 13 - Long Relaxation Session - 040608
Audio Session 14 - Relaxation Session - 110607
Audio Session 15 - Relaxation Session - 140607
Audio Session 16 - Relaxation Session - 120807
Audio Session 17 - Chronic Pain Relief Session - 061107
Audio Session 18 - Chronic Pain Relief Session - 251107
Audio Session 19 - Chronic Pain Relief Session - 301207
Thank you very much
love Jason Newland x
www.jasonnewland.com
jasonnewland@hotmail.co.uk
myspace.com/buddhistjay
Hi
My name is Jason Newland and I provide free relaxation and chronic
pain relief services online.
On my website I have free video and audios that anyone can listen to
and download, anywhere in the world.
All my services are completely free and I am not gaining
financially, whatsoever.
I now have 19 free audio sessions for relaxation & chronic pain
relief
Please visit my website:
www.jasonnewland.com
to watch or listen to my free videos and audios for relaxation and
Chronic pain relief
Video Session 1 - Relaxation Session - 180207
Video Session 2 - Relaxation Session - 170307
Video Session 3 - 10 minute Relaxation Session - 150407
Video Session 4 - 10 minute Relaxation Session - 250407
Video Session 5 - Relaxation Session - 120607
Video Session 6 - 10 minute chronic pain relief technique 1
Video Session 7 - 10 minute chronic pain relief technique 2
Audio Session 1 - Relaxation Session - 150107
Audio Session 2 - Body Awareness Session - 200107
Audio Session 3 - Relaxation Session - 090207
Audio Session 4 - Relaxation Session - 120207
Audio Session 5 - Relaxation Session - 160207
Audio Session 6 - Short Relaxation Session - 050207
Audio Session 7 - Short Relaxation Session - 010307
Audio Session 8 - Chronic Pain Relief Session - 190207
Audio Session 9 - Chronic Pain Relief Session - 120207
Audio Session 10 - Short Chronic Pain Relief Session -190207
Audio Session 11 - Short Chronic Pain Relief Session - 250207
Audio Session 12 - Relaxation Session - 120607
Audio Session 13 - Long Relaxation Session - 040608
Audio Session 14 - Relaxation Session - 110607
Audio Session 15 - Relaxation Session - 140607
Audio Session 16 - Relaxation Session - 120807
Audio Session 17 - Chronic Pain Relief Session - 061107
Audio Session 18 - Chronic Pain Relief Session - 251107
Audio Session 19 - Chronic Pain Relief Session - 301207
Thank you very much
love Jason Newland x
www.jasonnewland.com
jasonnewland@hotmail.co.uk
myspace.com/buddhistjay
Friday, January 4, 2008
First scary storm of 2008!
For those in the bay area, you're probably asleep right now. But I am wide awake! I can't sleep - I love listening to the wind and the rain, actually more like waiting to hear the rain. I got some driving home from Carmel earlier today but it wasn't too heavy as is predicted. What is heavy though is the wind. You see, I live right on the water, on the bay and that makes for much different weather experiences, especially when we get a 'storm of the century' as they are calling it in the paper. It is much more windy here - we've so far gotten up to 72 knots (which is close to 70mph) and it's currently gusting at 60+ with winds at 55 or so blowing strong. I was asleep for a while but then awakened by a loud crash. I thought, oh god, what now?! My cat ran under the bed and I went downstairs to investigate. I discovered our boat, now off of the dock and in the water. Thank goodness my dad had it locked with a long steel wire lock. It was the only thing securing it to the dock. I managed to grab the bowline and tie that to the dock as well. I also almost got blown off the dock! Yikes! I'm now back up in bed, listening to the neighbors' boats bang around, every crash sounds like it may be the last time they see their boats in one piece. And good ridence too - they are evil people and never use their boats, they've just been sitting in the water, rotting for years, taking up wasted dock space and partially blocking our view of our little marina. Thankfully everything on our end is secured and boy am I glad I did come home today. I wanted to stay another day but once again my parents started to drive me crazy, so I decided that 5 days without them at home sounded like a much better bargain. Once again, I save the day :) Hope everyone else out there is faring better.
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
An example of how intelligent my cat is!
I'm currently in Carmel for New Years and to try to have a few more vacation days until I head back home, although my grouchy parents aren't making it very easy. I wanted to stay an extra day, more than I had originally planned, because I just love it down here and this year the owners of the house aren't returning until end of January. So when I got back from my trip to Oregon, I stopped off at home for the evening, slept on the couch with my kitty, since being in my room would have been way too depressing anyway. I have been trying to teach my cat how to open doors for himself and it never occured to me that this would pose any issues down the road. Another bad thing about temporarily living with the folks, is that they are very insistent that my kitty stay in the laundry room/garage if I'm going to be gone overnight. Of course, when they are not home at all, I don't do this because it's not really fair. And I would have just given him the run of the house this time except I did not know until yesterday that my parents are going to be staying in Carmel a week longer than usual. So all of last night, I thought, damn, wish I could have known that earlier. My cat really needs room to run around and act all psycho and crazy when he is in that particular mood. So as painful as it was, I left him in the laundry room and garage, with blankets on the hood of my car in the garage and his bed up on the washer - to give him more options as to where to sleep, off the cold floor. I left plenty of food + his automatic waterer too and asked a neighbor to come by and check on him a couple of times.
So I just a few minutes ago called to check in. Turns out she went over yesterday, to find the door to the laundry room open - she said I must have left it open, but I didn't. Turns out Kitty opened it himself. My dad beginning of last year installed all new door handles all over the house, the kind that are like a lever, so a cat could potentially reach up and pull on the handle to open the door. I don't know how he did it, because the door swings into the laundry room, not the opposite but he must have known to do that. Smart kitty! Now I'm a bit more happy, not so much worried about him being stuck in the garage area. I asked her to make sure to leave that door open as all of his food, water and litter box are currently in the garage too and I don't want to come home to find any accidents. But I'm just kinda laughing inside at the moment. I am so proud of my kitty. What a smart cat!!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)