Hello, readers. Let's contemplate the meaning of this phrase that has popped up in local business reports: "voluntary severance program."
Hmm. "Voluntary severance program" sounds faintly like the Bolshevik era -- like either you volunteer to dispatch yourself or we'll be more than happy to dispatch you anyway. Now, let's move on, voluntarily, of course:
LAB MIX IN NEED NOW: Gail Whelan of Companion Animal Network is also a "Placement Partner" with the SPCA of Texas and reports that "they have a beautiful, fully vetted, male Lab mix that only has today left. He has passed all their temperament tests and is neutered, vaccinated and microchipped. Unfortunately, he has developed a runny nose and they CANNOT keep him past today. ... There is no time for this dog....He has done nothing wrong except get an upper respiratory infection." If you can help save this dog, call 214-808-3238 or 972-686-8987.
THE NIPPED NOSE DOG: Oh, my, good fortune has found Sadie. These are her photos.
And, as you can see, a substantial chunk of her nose has been bitten off. And, she needs to put on some weight.
Fortunately, an "Angel With a Mission" has stepped up to take on the challenge of helping Sadie recover. "You can tell your readers this baby is safe," writes the Angel.
This nice person, who doesn't want to be identified, enjoyed a wonderful Monday afternoon with Sadie and reports, "Sadie is such a sweet baby. We sat outside most of the afternoon -- she didn't leave my side. Just wanted to lick my hands and fingers and be loved on. She can't weight more than 20 or 25 pounds -- just skin and bones."
Ginger Leach of Fort Worth Animal Control says Sadie was moved out of the kill shelter under the auspices of "Homeward Bound...so she is safe and will be taken care of. we took care of her vaccinations, heartworm test (Whoo! Hoo! It was negative!), de-fleaing and de-worming today [Monday] at the shelter. But she is going to need lots more medical care."
The nose wound is a problem and it affects her breathing, says Ginger.
Barbara Richardson of Homeward Bound Animal Rescue says the group has established a "Sadie's Fund" to help pay for this pup's recovery. Mail donations to Sadie's Fund, Homeward Bound, P.O. Box. 210157 Bedford, Tx. 76095.
As Sadie's angel says, "You had to see beyond the face and see the loving in her eyes and know how much love was in her little body."
AND NOW SOME TRANSPORTATION, PLEASE: You may recall that Sandra Terrazas has been keeping us up to date on the situation in Odessa in which a very ill fellow named Jim has been forced by health issues to close his dog sanctuary. He has been trying to do this in a dignified manner in which all the animals are very carefully placed.
Sandra e-mailed Monday night that there are just over 50 dogs awaiting transport from Odessa. (Please don't write your own Odessa punchline. I've been there, too, and I know that it's way out in flat, sandy West Texas, but, by golly, those skies are something to see and not everybody wants to get out of the Permian Basis...well, back to the dogs...)
Now, the dog in this picture is a female lab mix, about 5 years old, named Dorsie. And she seems to know that out there in West Texas, you don't want a "hot tub," you want a "cool tub." Bless her heart.
Carie with Animal Friends Rescue says, "I have places for all those dogs, but the person who was going to transport got called up for active duty. We're back to square one for transporting these dogs. Six need to go to Arizona, 12 to Idaho and the remainder to the West Coast. I'm at my wit's end with figuring out how to get them moved."
To help Carie, Sandra and Jim move these dogs to other -- cooler, perhaps -- areas of the continent, go to www.animalfriendsrescue.org/extra/texasdogs.html.
At that site you'll see that a lot of the dogs are big ol' dawgs -- the same kind of big ol' dawgs that wind up packing Dallas-area shelters. Big loveable dogs that just need a place to call home and some people to love. And maybe a big tub to sit in and talk philosophy.
SO, HERE'S ONE MORE: This brindle female boxer is scheduled to be put to sleep on Wednesday, according to the folks at Legacy Boxer Rescue.
So, the rescue group, already slammed with boxers needing help, is turning to folks outside of the group to help this dog. She has "an open wound on her stifle that needs medical attention."
To volunteer to help this dog, e-mail [email protected]. You can't refer to the dog by name, but when you write, refer to "BIN 151."
BIN 151 -- not much of a name for a great dog.
PLANNING AHEAD: This seemed to be way off in the future until it struck me that this is the last week of June. Whew! Time flies when you're typing. But here's the first notice: The Friends of the Animals at Cedar Creek Lake are planning the 2006 Dog Fest from 9 a.m. until noon on Saturday, Sept. 16, at the Mabank Pavilion. There'll be the usual stuff: contests, microchipping, snacks, photos with your dogs, an animal behaviorist, etc.
But, there also is a scheduled special appearance by the ol' Hound Dog himself, Elvis. They swear. Look, if he is still alive (and I'm not saying he's not), he's only a little bit older than the Rolling Stones' Keith Richards -- and he's been climbing trees and falling out.
HEADS UP IN CORSICANA: The Humane Society is planning on a whizbang July 3 adoption day on July 3 (Monday) on the Westminster Church Lawn in Corsicana -- it's across from the Corsicana National Bank, which will be serving hot dogs and sodas while the shelter staff and volunteers show off the "inventory." A good adoption day will help the shelter be a little less crowded.
SCRAPE THE BARN MOVIE REVIEW: To refresh, the guiding principle of the Scrape the Barn Movie Review is answering the question, "Will my time be better spent at this movie or scraping the paint off an old barn?"
I've always thought our movie reviews should have a sponsor. So, this week's "Scrape The Barn Movie Review" is brought to you on behalf of Barncats Inc., the folks who try to match up North Texas cats with barns, scraped or unscraped. They always need more barns.
Today our film is A Prairie Home Companion. It has been out a few weeks, but we've been busy and, besides, people who visit www.readlarrypowell.com are unlikely to get their primary arts criticism from this site, anyway. Ah, but there are many of you who also are too busy to get to the theater when a film "first comes out" and you're probably spending your money on pet food or vet bills for somebody else's animal. So we have had some time to chew over this film and give a perspective that the hot shot big-time film folks may not give you.
After all, they look at the worth of the film in the context of attending films. We look at the worth of a film in the context of "Do I really want to burn off 2 hours of my life watching that piece of puppy poo?"
OK, here's the deal on A Prairie Home Companion: If you can't sleep and there's a 10 p.m. showing and you've got a discount or free ticket and you have an affection for Garrison Keillor's radio show of the same name, you might want to spend money on this movie. We saw the 10 p.m. showing Saturday night in Grand Prairie. The film isn't playing in a lot of theaters.
A Prairie Home Companion, the story of the last performance of a radio variety show, has maybe one really funny scene -- a bawdy song composed of old jokes song by Woody Harrelson and John C. Reilly (who actually can sing). Decent people would be embarrassed by the song, embarrassed further to be caught laughing at it. (I, thus, must not be all that decent.)
The rest of the movie is mildly amusing -- mildly, though Lily Tomlin and Meryl Streep are fun to watch.
Tommy Lee Jones plays the standard Tommy Lee Jones stern face/taut delivery character, but it looks as if he shot his stuff in one day on a sound stage. And Virginia Madsen is cast as the Angel of Death in a role that surely was intended for Anna Nicole Smith. Ms. Madsen, who has shown great acting chops in the past, must have been directed thusly: "Act dazed." I figure the Angel of Death in a comedy ought to have a little more vah-vah-vah-voom.
Kevin Kline as Guy Noir, the Sam Spade-like detective? Embarrassing. If you think you lose life-force watching this film, think how much he lost making it. I'll bet when the roll is called up yonder, they count off for this performance.
Garrison Keillor portrays himself. Just a guess, but, based on the performance, don't expect a sequel.
There's lots of other stuff, but why pile on. Oddly, the movie works as a curiosity piece. But the planet is awash in curiosity pieces these days from politics to business shenanigans.
So the verdict is: Put on your overalls, get your work gloves and a wide-brimmed hat and scrape the barn. Stop every now and then to pet a barn cat -- a prairie barn companion.
