Canine Cocktail Hour

I first heard of this concept several months ago and became instantly intrigued. My thanks to Reuters, MSNBC and Brian Snyder for the photo.

BOSTON – At Mickey’s first evening at a nightclub he listened to loud music, scarfed down appetizers and lapped up cocktails of chicken soup and beet juice instead of gin or vodka.

A 13-year-old Boston terrier, Mickey was among 50 dogs — and 250 humans — at a party in Boston by SkyBark, which began in Los Angeles. The gathering was aimed at marketing canine products while raising money for charity and is part of a new trend toward nightlife where humans are encouraged to bring their dogs.

Read the rest of the story here

Publishing Deal Gone Wrong

Once again in curious cat mode, I couldn’t rest after I read JG’s comment and was able to pull this up on the web. Not sure how reputable the source is, but it sure sounded good! Hail to MediaBistro!

Thursday, Oct 12

Dooced Again: Blogger Settles w/Jilted Publisher

Heather B. Armstrong became a household word a few years back when she got fired from her job after employers discovered her blog, Dooce. The notoriety gave her a huge audience, making her a natural candidate for one of those blogger book deals you hear about—in fact, back in January, when mediabistro.com interviewed Jeremie Ruby-Strauss, he gave us the impression that she would be writing a book for Kensington’s Rebel Base Books line. That’s because, according a court complaint Kensington filed in June (PDF courtesy of Trainwrecks.net), publisher and author were busy hammering out the details of a two-book contract while that interview was being conducted.

But if there’s a court complaint, you know there’s a twist: Armstrong’s agent sent an email to Kensington in late April stating that all the terms had been successfully negotiated and requesting signature copies for Armstrong to sign, then told the publisher a month later that, because Ruby-Strauss was no longer working there, Armstrong refused to sign the contract. But then, Kensington’s attorneys claimed, Armstrong herself told the publisher a different story; she was upset at the lengthy negotiations and the “nerve-wracking” lack of contact, and now she wanted out. Kensington maintained it already had a valid and binding contract with her, so they sued to get her to uphold it.

Armstrong has announced a settlement on Dooce, “officially ending what has been the most traumatic, agonizing, demoralizing experience of my life.” In case there’s any other doubt as to the outcome, she adds:

“I have no faith in our legal system, one that guarantees victory only for the party who can afford to pay for it, one that would allow a large company to bully a private citizen because it knows that she has no money with which to defend herself. I am angry and bitter and feeling all sorts of unbecoming emotions. More than that, though, I am afraid that these people are watching everything I say here, ready to pounce on a single word, twist it, manipulate it, and then sue me again.”

More info on the actual settlement terms as our queries get responses…

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p.s. I still love Heather, even if she doesn’t love/like clogs. Her loss.

Smokey’s Latest Victim

Smokey!!! (said in my best reprimanding tone)

In Smokey’s defense, these were left in the yard. He’s actually been very, very good about not chewing up things that are in the house. If it’s in the yard, though, it’s a totally different story!

Dooce Gets Sued

In what looks to be yet another warning for bloggers, Heather Armstrong announced today that she was not only fired for her website (hence the term, “dooced”), but also sued for it! What is wrong with the world?! (Actually, the world is fine, it’s the people in the world who are pissing me off.)

Now, since I’m not a reputable news source, I can postulate that the contract she mentions in her post today has something to do with her site, because, if it doesn’t, it’s just plain not as newsworthy.

Remember Kevin Nealon on Saturday Night Live? “And that’s news to me!”

You go, Heather. That’s all I have to say about that. I offered to help with a sit-in for her, should the need arise. I figure that 1) it’s on my new lifetime “to do” list, which is still in the draft stages and will be posted shortly, and 2) I bet she really deserves it.

But, for now, good night. And have a pleasant tomorrow.

Genetic Savings & Clone

(Or, “With a Name like This, How Did it Even Stand a Chance?!”)

“Cat-Cloning Company to Close Its Doors” (AP – San Francisco, Oct. 12, 2006)

My favorite sentence of all time in news releases, by the way, is “So-and-so did not immediately return telephone calls,” which is a handy-dandy way of getting out of printing any type of rebuttal or explanation, as far as I’m concerned. I should know. I did it myself in college and wound up in the dean’s office for it. (A story aptly titled “Tough Turkey in Marriott?” that I’m still very proud of, as you can see. It was probably the only time that anything I wrote actually did any bit of good, but college students had Thanksgiving dinner that year, dammit! And I’m proud of it.)

Back to the topic at hand, though, I’m wondering how soon is “immediately”? Immediately or within five minutes? Too funny. As if anyone returns phone calls “immediately.” Better to just be honest and say, “We really didn’t want to give Mr. Sorry Sap a chance to talk about this and wanted to get the ‘news from our point-of-view’ out as quickly as possible.” Now that’s honesty, people!

Oh, Be Careful Little Fingers What You Say

News from down South today has me rethinking some of the horribly nasty things I’ve said about people on this blog. Please accept my most humble apologies, horribly nasty people. I’m sure that I didn’t really mean it and could plead insanity if I really had to. Before you go and sue me, understand that I will show up in court with my lawyer — I have several — and will most likely countersue you for hurting my feelings. Boo hoo.

News from The Foo (or, news you can fooze)

Condolences, Fear and One of the Reasons I Left Boston

CNN is reporting that a small plane has crashed into a Manhattan apartment building, bringing back memories of what life on the East Coast was like five years ago and pushing my heart toward the families of the newly dead.

I’ll never forget the week of 9/11. I sat on my porch, eight miles south of Logan International Airport and was stunned by the lack of air traffic that normally permeated the sky above me. Every time I heard a jet overhead, I wondered if it was a plane about to crash into my home, ala United flight 93 in Pennsylvania. It was one of the few times in my life that I’ve ever been truly terrified. Congratulations, terrorists. Mission accomplished.

My heart and prayers go out to everyone who experiences a return of some of the fear we all felt after that horrible, horrible day because of this new, tragic news. My heart also goes out to the families of those who have died in what looks to be a freak accident. People (and animals) would never have to deal with tragedy, if I were in charge.

4:07 CST Update: I just learned that the pilot of the plane was Yankee’s pitcher Cory Lidle. What a sad day for New York. They have lost too many of their own.

Cory’s Fox Sports’ Page

Me Pretending to be Heather Armstrong

Heather is of Dooce.com fame, in case I haven’t mentioned it a hundred zillion times already. She’s even got her own wikipedia page. Absolutely fabulous, dahling! (p.s. please also notice that my hair is no longer COMPLETELY yellow. yuck. And to think that I actually PAID for that color because Jon said he liked it. Guess what he said when I got home with this new hair color? “I LIKE that!” Must be what he says everytime. I’m a quick learner, that.)

p.p.s. This is part of my Utah-trip collection, coming soon to a blog near you. Who knew Utah could be so photogenic?

Cat Laughs

Is it National Cat Month yet?

A Mirror and a Digital Camera. Uh oh.

I’m the crazy-cat-woman-in-training that your mother/brother/officemates warned you about. (“Romy. You look so good with blonde hair and black roots, it is like not even funny!”) I’ve never seen myself look so confused!