Monday rush hour traffic may have been less annoying in your major metro areas today. So many Americans take Thanksgiving week off that freeways actually move, well, freely.
Of course, in Dallas the freeways were empty because so many Dallas Cowboys fans are under a doctor's care. Anxiety problems. Held our breaths for three hours while waiting for the Cowboys to foul up the Colts game and, like they did in Washington, lose after the game was over. But, no, Dallas beat previously undefeated Indianapolis, 21-14. You probably already knew that -- heard it from your nurse when you regained consciousness.
If you're traveling this week, enjoy it and be safe. Bring something extra with you to your destination -- good feelings, good conversation and appropriate jokes for the dining table.
If you're at work, enjoy the slack time created by everyone else taking the week off -- no need to waste time with a bunch of cubicle conversations that begin "how 'bout them Cowboys."
Now , please join me in taking this solemn pre-Thanksgiving Vow. Put your left hand on the can of jellied cranberry sauce and repeat after me, "I will not go to a grocery store at any time on Wednesday unless the U.N. sends in troops to oversee crowd control."
SPOTTED IN IRVING: Our pal Holly Elms, a veteran rescuer, spotted this girl, Kate, on Russell Posch's list of adoptables that he'd found while walking the Irving Animal Shelter.
Kate is a 9-year-old owner-surrender. It must have been simply jarring for her to have been dropped from the family after nine years. She must be bewildered.
Anyway, Kate is a 30-pound beagle/border collie mix and the card on her cage says "good with kids/cats."
She's available for adoption. It's a short work-week. This is a city shelter. Time is, no kidding, of the essence. (Call the shelter at 972-721-2256. Shelter weekday hours are 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m.)
THE AUSSIE WITHOUT A HOME: This is the dog that was found wandering a downtown Dallas newspaper parking lot and rescued by award-winning journalist Brooks Egerton. Brooks has been trying to find a home for River for weeks.
A family that was going to take River decided they already had too many dogs.
So, the challenge now is to find this great, personable, attentive and adorable dog a good home.
Frankly, the look on this dog's face says, "I'm ready for whatever you're game for, chief." And how about those ears? They're arranged like a pair of rabbit ears on a 1950s TV set -- pointed in the directions to get the best reception possible.
CHRYSTIE'S KIDS: If it's the holiday season, then Audrey Merritt is hustling things for the Ellis County charity, Chrystie's Kids. This group works on behalf of kids, women, elderly folks -- it's kind of a sweeping mission and it's outlined on the organization web-site.
In preparing for the Chrystie's Kids Angel Trees, Audrey says they need printer cartridges (Lexmark #70 black and #20 color). And they'll need copy packer, box tape, film for 35 mm cameras, postage stamps, etc. Lots of stuff, including donations for nursing homes and kids. Call 972-875-1597 to help.
AN INJURED CAT: This is six-week-old Babe, a kitten who lost its eye in an incident with its mom. These things happen.
Keli Halteman saves cats via Halteman's Haven.
The story is that the Mom and the kittens came into the Haven three weeks ago. Sometimes something snaps in these cat moms and they attack their kittens. That's what happened to Babe.
The mom was immediately separated from the kittens. The kittens were bottle-fed and all are fine now. In the meantime, antibiotics failed to save Babe's eye. The cat was in pain and a doctor did the removal for a reduced fee. The cat still ran up about a $400 bill.
"When I went to pick her up [after the surgery]," says Keli, "She greeted me with outstretched paws and had charmed the entire hospital staff....I know it is the holidays and we are all on budgets, but a half-pound kitten who is just shy of six weeks old has lost her eye. But she still manages to purr every time a human holds her."
Babe has been treated at VCA Loop 12 Animal Hospital. (You can donate to her cause at VCA Loop 12 Animal Hospital, Babe's Fund, 3607 N. Buckner Blvd., Dallas, 75228. go to www.petfinder.com/shelters/TX824.html to see about adopting.)
NEEDING A HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS: The folks at the North Tollway Pet Hospital are trying to find a home for this "stray" who has wound up in their care. She's about a year old and "very sweet" and loves to be with people.
This is one of those dogs who might not get a second glance from someone looking for a "purebred," but she will get the attention of someone who is looking for a friend. We just have to make sure that she is seen by that particular person -- so spread the word that the "stray" needs a home by Thanksgiving.
You can see her at the clinic at 4727 Frankford at the Dallas North Tollway or you can call the clinic at 972-733-3340.
The pressure here is that the clinic's boarding area is spoken for at Thanksgiving and this dog will have no place to go except, perhaps, a city-run shelter where the clock will begin ticking.
A FOUND DOG: Well, my goodness, what a cutie. And our ol' newsroom colleague and animal fan Holly Becka wants to get the dog to its rightful home. She writes, "We found a small terrier (weighs maybe 4 pounds) on a rural road in northwest McKinney just before nightfall on Saturday ... I saw a car speeding up the road just before I spotted the dog, but this sweetie isn’t the typical dump job we normally see. The dog is well fed, well-groomed, smells nice and is very well behaved. Maybe the speeding car was just a coincidence. I’m hoping that the dog is lost, and that the owners will have a wonderful Thanksgiving if they are reunited with their beloved dog.SCRAPE-THE-BARN MOVIE REVIEW: Bond. James Bond. Yep, we've seen Casino Royale and the signature line is a splendid "introduction" at a magnificently key moment late in the film. Bond fans will love it.
"I called the SPCA in McKinney but they said no one reported a missing terrier breed, and I’ve left a message with Collin County Animal Services to see if anyone reported such a lost dog. There were some dog trials up at the Collin County Youth Park, which is about two miles away from where we found the dog, so we went over there Sunday to see if anyone had reported an escapee. No such luck."
So, readers, Holly is turning to you to see if someone recognizes the dog or knows someone who is looking for their lost pup. E-mail hbecka@dallasnews.com or call 214-208-3524.
As regular readers know, our movie reviews are presented on behalf of Barncats Inc., the organization that places cats in barns and outbuildings and has plenty of cats but needs some barns. Go to the website to see if you can help 'em out.
Now, we'll try to help you decide whether you should go to the film or go scrape the paint off an old barn.
Here's the deal with Casino Royale: It's the first Bond tale from Ian Fleming, the author who created the super spy.
We've now seen both movie versions and the TV version. What? Yes, Barry Nelson starred as James Bond in a TV version of Casino Royale back in the golden age of television in 1954. And, in 1967, there was a lackluster spoof with David Niven and Woody Allen and all it shared with Bondness was the title.
Sean Connery was, of course, the ultimate Bond.
So now comes Daniel Craig, bad guy in The Road to Perdition, to try on Mr. Bond in a bold Casino Royale. The clothes fit -- when he's wearing them. In a scene near the end, the bad guy strips him down and in an odd scene tortures the part of Mr. Bond's body that Mr. Bond might treasure most. It is the only nude scene in the film and all you see of Mr. Bond is the reaction to the pain as the bad guy tries to torture information out of him.
In the past, Bond films have been known for the extended stunt-crazy openings before the credits. Not this time. This time the director/writers/whomever are trying to establish the ruthless character of Bond and it works.
This is no ultra-cool James Bond winking at the camera. This guy is tough. Mean. Able to pull the trigger.
In one of the early scenes, Bond chases a minor villain through a construction site for 15 minutes easily -- lots of daring jumps, flops, drops and rolls. It's like watching Daniel Craig as The Terminator in his relentless pursuit of the bad guy. While the chase takes them into an embassy, it still ends as if it were a disturbance in a Texas bar on Saturday night -- everybody shoots at everybody else.
For you Bond devotees, here are some things that are different in this film:
There's no Miss Moneypenny, Q doesn't show up with fancy gadgets and there are no women in a dreamy opening sequence. In fact, no femme fatale type shows up in this movie until 20 minutes have passed, and then she is just a quick shadowy figure crossing a room. Ultimately, of course, she winds up (a) in the arms of Bond and (b) ...well, I can't tell you.
And the "Bond Girl" doesn't have a double-entendre name -- she's Vesper Lynd.
Usually when you praise the "scenery" in a Bond film, it's not the landscape you're talking about, but in this case, it is the landscape -- Lake Como in Italy, for example. And Venice.
Judi Dench is M, again, and her performance is quite clever and engaging. M understands Bond. There's a relationship between the two that is interesting to watch -- can't say that about every Bond/M scene in previous films.
And this Bond is one fit specimen. If I had a body like his, I'd never wear a shirt. And such blue eyes. Cold blue eyes.
The story is traditional -- double-crosses, bad guys, bullets, hand-to-hand combat -- and sometimes it looks a lot like the action master Jackie Chan might have choreographed the fights.
It's long, but you'll probably sit still for it.
And it has a villain who cries blood from one eye -- injured tear duct.
Eva Green does a great job as the Bond girl/love interest. It's a pivotal role -- unlike so many Bond girls, she's not a damsel in distress. Not exactly.
The lone really disappointing thing about this film is the theme song. Hear for yourself by clicking here and watching a Youtube sequence. The thing is, a Bond film ought to have a memorable theme song and this one is just not remarkable. But you only have to hear it once, twice if you sit through the credits. The traditional Bond twanging theme doesn't show up until the credits roll. But you get the feeling this is part of the filmmakers announcing this is a New Bond.
The new Bond is pretty darned good -- a tough guy whose soft center is completely obscured by events in Casino Royale. But he has bumped everybody after Mr. Connery down a notch.
So, if you have a chance to see this, put away the barn-scraping tools and go see Casino Royale. If you don't like fake violence on screen, scrape the barn.
Frankly, speaking on behalf of the teenaged male who lives within me, it is really good to see James Bond back on the big screen Casino Royale achieves one very important thing for the film's investors: It makes fans of James Bond wonder what's going to happen next. We'll have to wait for the next Bond film in 2008 to see if Mr. Craig actually is good enough to carry Mr. Connery's Walter PPK.
