Day: January 17, 2008

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I have always loved Al Franken

al.jpgSince early Saturday Night Live days, I have always enjoyed Al Franken. His wit is so incredibly quick and you can tell there is a huge storehouse of knowledge that lurks below his creative use of satire. His Harvard education attests to that, of course.

I have read one of his books and was so riveted by his recounting of an accidental meeting on a flight that he had with Bush’s (the decider) mom. It told me more than I wanted to know about how Bush came to be as psychologically bereft as he is.

While I am not from Al’s neck of the woods in Minnesota (just locating it on a map would be a challenge for my spacially-challenged self), I am rooting for him to beat Norm Coleman in the upcoming elections.

He has just begun his tv campaign ads (which typically are as annoying as the lackluster commercials we are bombarded with) and I must say I was really impressed. I think it was the teacher in me as I was a special educator before becoming a school psychologist. My big sister would probably like it as well as she has been a 4th grade teacher for 30 years.

Mrs. Molin

The video clip below from Al Franken is definitely not light-hearted. But, boy does it show that this man is far more than just a performer.

Walk a day in my shoes: Al Franken/Ulysses Bridges

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What was this guy thinking walking his Golden near a cliff?

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in Tacoma, WA, the man and his dogs are okay but what was he thinking having his dogs so close to a cliff during a morning walk? Click above on the rescuer and Golden above to see the rescue. Unbelievable.

A man and his two dogs were walking along the water in Tacoma Wednesday, when one of the dogs lipped over the edge of a cliff and got stuck.

The man went after the golden retriever, and ended up sliding down the cliff with his other dog, to the ground below.

A rescuer repelled down and helped guide the stranded pooch to safety. Neither of the dogs, nor the owner, was injured.

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Golden Guide Lucky a first in China

0013729e4abe08d3ebd20e.jpgIt is amazing that some things that we so easily take for granted are not available to many other nations in the world. It has taken over 20 years for China to have Guide Dogs despite there being over 12 million people there suffering from some type of visual impairment.

Sadly, the country does not allow open access for larger dogs such as Goldens so Ping Yali, shown here, cannot take full advantage of Lucky’s abilities.

For example, he cannot enter public places. And the city of Beijing does not allow him taken outside unless he is in the company of an able-bodied (rather than blind) person.

Lucky guides Ping across roads, not by recognizing the color of traffic lights, but by watching traffic flows. Lucky recognized the word “Gongyuan”, which means park, after being shown it only a couple of times.

Golden retrievers are considered one of the best breeds for guide dogs because of their intelligence and friendly disposition. The Dalian Medical University Center, where Lucky was trained, was established two years ago. It is now training some 30 canines for visually impaired athletes to raise awareness about facilities for the blind. It takes eight months and costs about 100,000 yuan ($13,500) to train a guide dog.

Ping’s first exposure to guide dogs was at the New York Paralympics, where many blind athletes from European countries and the United States had their own seeing dogs.

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