Cuteness Overload starring Knut the Polar Bear

Just move along if you're a Grumpy Gus who doesn't go awwwww at the sight of kitties and doggies and baby polar bears, oh my! Today's post is strictly for fellow fans of the overwhelmingly adorable Cute Overload. Sometimes, you just need a little cute and corny in your life.

I do visit the site a lot, but what got me there recently started with a news item about net superstar Knut, the Polar Bear born at the Berlin Zoo six months ago. The first polar bear born there for 33 years.

A great start if you're not familiar with Knut, is Cute Knut: Berlin's Baby Polar Bear, which has quite the collection of articles, videos, and pics.

And here are some YouTube vids, beginning with this one taken back in February when he was a couple of months old. Background music is "He's So Fine" by The Chiffons, and "The Bear Necessities" from Disney's "The Jungle Book":








And this one contains various videos taken by a zoo visitor of Knut and his handler, Thomas, frolicking for the audience (not sure of the timeline, I'd say he's about 3-4 months old here):








This video really gives you a feel for the Knutmania that has gripped Berlin. Just look at the lineup on a rainy day! And all that money changing hands for stuffed toys, DVDs, etc. You can see how much he's grown, and getting to be quite the handful. Comparing his size to a short clip I found taken two weeks ago, he's about 5 months old here.

The info's in German, so I have no idea what the added thought balloon or the animal messages near the end say, hope it's clean!:








Is he not adorable? I have a thing for polar bears and penguins myself. Maybe I was an Inuit in a previous life. Continuing our cute cavalcade, from the funny and irreverent (not sure kids should read it) The Cat Blog - Pippy Style comes this wacky begging video. I think the poor cat could use some professional help!








Now I'd like you to meet Vladimir Punikki, an orange tabby in Finland that is born to pose for his lucky owner, Henna. This is her Cold Winter Day 19.2.2007 album. Click the name to see him in his full glory.






Just so the dog lovers don't feel left out, here's a cute and funny vid of a dog and cat set to the Bee Gees' "Stayin' Alive":






For a change of pace, here's a pretty awesome video of monkeys in Bali opening plastic bottles of water. Watch it, then explain to me again how Darwin wasn't spot on. Scary how human they are:






And, finally, my vote for The Cutest Video Ever Seen! Dig these otters at the Vancouver Aquarium holding hands as they drift around their pool. Do not miss the end where they find each other and one appears to smooch the other's teeny little paw:






That oughta hold ya for the weekend, see you next week, kids!

Salute To Bob Barker

Hard to believe, but the day game show fans have dreaded for so long has arrived. Bob Barker taped his last episode of "The Price Is Right" yesterday and, man, are we going to miss him. The last thirty-five years have just flown by, eh? Let's take a look at just some of the fun we've shared with Bob.

To get things started, here's a nice tribute from the Game Show Network when Bob was named the number one game show host of all-time:






And here's a best of compilation of "The Price Is Right" clips:






How did it all begin on TPIR? Glad you asked, 'cause here's a great clip of Bob's first appearance back in 1972. What a difference from the rollicking crowds we're used to today! And how odd to hear Johnny Olson say "Stand up!" instead of the more familiar "Come on down!" Apparently he started that tradition with the third show.






One of the more famous bloopers where the gal loses her halter top. Love Bob's comment, "You don't love me *that* much!"






He also appeared on other popular game shows of the day. Witness these clips from "Match Game '78" where Bob and Gene Rayburn have a little fun. Includes the late, great Charles Nelson Reilly:








Here are some later clips I can't embed, so you'll have to click on the links to watch the full show. From 1992, Barker's Beauties and the cast of "The Young and the Restless" duke it out on Ray Combs' "Family Feud":

Clip One
Clip Two
Clip Three
Clip Four


And here's an example of why people loved him so much. The ease with which he handles this new arrival on contestants row is just a joy to behold. Meet Angelo:






Another historic day on the show, this is from 1987, the first day Bob showed up au natural (his hair, that is!):






A more recent appearance on David Letterman's show, here he is doing his own Top Ten:






And here's his delightful shot on Ellen Degeneres' talk show taped this year:








The show had many imitators around the world, but I stumbled across a pretty entertaining version from the UK called "Bruce's Price is Right", starring Bruce Forsyth. The show ran from 1995-2002, and it was a half-hour long. These are full episodes from 1999.

I like the way the contestants row is on the same level as Bruce, making it much easier to shake their hands and interact with them. And I also like the added touch of having their names light up along with their bids.

Includes a much smaller, very different version of Plinko and an extremely different version of the Final Showcase (it came down to one person). Also, Bruce's Beauties included a man, Simon, who is not much of a beauty, IMHO. His main job seemed to be opening the doors on the cars and looking inside! Other games: Side By Side, 3 Strikes, Cliffhanger, and one called Joker. Is that one on the US version? Anyway, settle in and enjoy:










I saved the best for last:






Adam Sandler appeared on the recent 50th anniversary of Bob's career and read his poem, "Ode To Bob Barker." The full special is posted at the end of this post. Includes the famous fight scene from "Happy Gilmore":






Bob was more than just a game show host, he was also an animal rights activist long before it became fashionable. I'm sure his simple sign off about controlling the pet population by spaying and neutering your pet got through to more people than any media campaign could have done. Here's a brief interview that covers this side of his life:






And here's the short report that appeared on the CBS News with Katie Couric last night about the final taping:






I used to love watching Bob when I was home from school sick. Propping up the sofa cushions and yelling my bids at the TV. What will today's sick kids watch, fer Pete's sake? Re-runs of Springer? *shudder*

Bob, we hardly knew ya. Enjoy your retirement and golf your little heart out, you deserve it! To wrap things up, enjoy this wonderful special, "Bob Barker: A Celebration of 50 Years on Television" in all its glory:

Open Letter To John Travolta and Weekend Shenanigans

While I highly doubt Johnny boy will actually read this (heck, I'm not sure *anyone* is reading this thing!), there's a little something I feel I, as the mother of an autistic son for nearly 20 years, should address.

According to Wikipedia, this plea from Hollywood Interrupted's Mark Ebner, and this story from Sunday's Herald Sun (an Australian newspaper), Travolta has been avoiding a possible problem with his son for quite some time. Jett is now 15 years old and has been rumoured for years to be autistic. Their cult's teachings don't "allow" this, so it's been swept under the carpet.


From the Wikipedia entry:

"On April 10, 2006, Mark Ebner of Hollywood, Interrupted made a public plea to Travolta and Preston to have their son treated for autism, alleging five reliable sources — including representatives from Cure Autism Now and The Autism Perspective — who say that Jett suffers from autism, and not from Kawasaki syndrome as stated by the parents. His brother Joey Travolta recently produced a documentary about autism."


And from the Herald Sun story:

"But parents of autistic children say that Travolta should join American celebrities Sylvester Stallone, Doug Flutie, Jenny McCarthy and Toni Braxton - who all have autistic children - in raising awareness and research funds to cure the disease."

Also see this Autism FAQ - Well-known Autistic People from the Autism Resources site.


I read through the comments attached to Mark's plea and I need to address some issues. First and foremost, autism is NOT a disease and it can't be cured. It can be controlled through therapy and, in extreme cases, medication. But there is no cure in sight at this point. I wish there were, believe me, but my son will never be autism-free. His condition has improved a great deal over the years, yes, but Riel will never be perfectly "normal."

He is also NOT mentally challenged (or the dreaded r-word which should be outlawed), as so many of the readers commented. I can't believe people still think that way in 2007, amazing. Talk to some autistic kids. Trust me, most of them are probably smarter than you and I, they just have a hard time expressing themselves.

I have a problem with organizations (such as the two mentioned above) giving people false hope. How the heck can we expect a cure when we still don't know what causes the damn thing? By all means, cough up dough for research and programs to help parents deal, get the kids into therapy (still too expensive for the average family to handle), whatever, but don't feed these desperate people lies on a sugar-coated spoon.

There is no cure. Deal with the son or daughter you have now. Love them, train them to behave better, stop them from biting themselves or knocking their heads against a wall, but don't waste your time and money dreaming of a cure.

Way back in 1992, the TV show, "20/20", had a fascinating report on what's now known as the Leominster Cluster in Massachusetts, home to a Foster Grant sunglasses plant. Here's a write-up I found published by The New York Times in 1992:


Tonight's edition of "20/20" contains intriguing evidence of a connection between environmental pollution and autism. "The Street Where They Lived," a report by Dr. Timothy Johnson, the ABC News medical editor, focuses on a number of children who suffer from some form of pervasive developmental disorder, a combination of social, behavioral and language problems, of which autism is the best known. What links the children is the town of Leominster, Mass., where their mothers or fathers grew up in the 1960's.

Leominster was then home to several plastics companies that polluted air, water and land. Suspicion centers especially on the 27 smokestacks of Foster Grant, makers of sunglasses; they spewed a derivative of vinyl chloride, which is known to cause cancer and other illnesses. The relationship to autism is not proved, but, as Dr. Johnson notes, the figures are startling: a neighborhood of about 600 homes around the Foster Grant plant have produced 42 cases of pervasive developmental disorder. That compares with a national figure of 15 children in 10,000 who show symptoms of the disease. Experts remain unconvinced, but this brief report ends with a hope that the painful story of Leominster may hold a clue to the cruel riddle of autism."


And there's an interesting story on the Brown University site on Martha E. Lang, a paraprofessional in Bio-Med, and her dissertation on the environmental connections with autism she found in Leominster.


But what's been done in the last fifteen years? Diddley squat as far as I can tell. What else happened fifteen years ago? That's right, little Jett Travolta was born and, if reports are correct, diddley and squat have been done for him as well.

I'm so glad we didn't give up on Riel when he was first diagnosed (as that doctor I mentioned in this post wanted me to do) and I'd hate to think Travolta's done the same.

So, why should I care what he does about his son? Because it breaks my heart to think one of the richest men in the world, someone who could buy the best therapists and all the equipment or nutritional supplements a kid could need, is doing nothing and hoping it goes away or something. And I can only imagine the positive influence someone like Travolta would be for the autism community.

When I started my adventure on the web eleven years ago, I didn't have a lot of content and just naturally assumed folks would enjoy seeing pictures Riel had drawn with our Paintbrush program. Boy, did they! And some of the messages brought me to tears. In particular, a sister whose autistic brother was never allowed to participate in family activities as her parents were "ashamed of him." She wrote to thank me for showcasing Riel's artwork and not hiding him away from the public eye. How bloody heart-breaking is that, huh? I wrote back a long email that I hope helped her cope in some way. I just hate to think Jett is being treated the same way.


On another autism related note, I so wish I had known about this past weekend's 3rd Annual Ontario Walk Now For Autism here in Toronto, but I was clueless (I'm pretty ticked at Riel's school for not telling us). I'll remember for next year and we'll be there with bells on!

Perhaps we'll call ourselves Riel's Rangers or something. Get a load of some of the great team names I found on the site:

A Mile For Max
Christopher's Crusaders
Finding The Missing Pieces
Jack's Joggers
Jammin' for Jason
Kieran's Smile Says Miles!
Mad Mac's Family
Magic Backyard
Matthew's Voice
Mike's Believers
Nicholas' Noodle Heads
Nicholas' Nearest and Dearest
Owen's Optimists
Raisin' Hell for Isabel
Roarke Rocks
Ronan's Renegades
Tyler's Future
Under the Umbrella Tree
Vanessa's Smile


If you're still reading, you must be here for the latest Weekend Shenanigans, so let's get to 'em! The only outing we had was on Saturday for the Kingston Road Street Fest. First time in ages that the weather was nice enough, but alas, it seemed the fest was a lot smaller than previous years. It helps if you have very young kids as they'd enjoy the face painting, the bouncy castle, and the clowns etc. Otherwise, we enjoyed the street bands:






While the Kingston Road United Church drew a good crowd:




And a couple of mounted police made an appearance which the kids loved:






There were clowns (or at least this guy):




And, ummm, a gingerbread man posed for me:




Gabby's had a band called Coldwater entertaining inside:




Which Riel enjoyed dancing to (they had a really nice sound actually):




And he got a kick out of the karaoke machine set up outside Gabby's:




Meanwhile, after we'd done the fest, George enjoyed seeing the Toronto FC win 2-1 over the Colorado Rapids:






I rounded off the weekend by taking a shot of our cat, Doc, stretched out in the backyard:




In other news, I thought this Yahoo.com item was pretty cool:

WARSAW (Reuters) - A 65-year-old railwayman who fell into a coma following an accident in communist Poland regained consciousness 19 years later to find democracy and a market economy, Polish media reported on Saturday.

Wheelchair-bound Jan Grzebski, whom doctors had given only two or three years to live following his 1988 accident, credited his caring wife Gertruda with his revival.

"It was Gertruda that saved me, and I'll never forget it," Grzebski told news channel TVN24.

"For 19 years Mrs Grzebski did the job of an experienced intensive care team, changing her comatose husband's position every hour to prevent bed-sore infections," Super Express reported Dr Boguslaw Poniatowski as saying.

"When I went into a coma there was only tea and vinegar in the shops, meat was rationed and huge petrol queues were everywhere," Grzebski told TVN24, describing his recollections of the communist system's economic collapse.

"Now I see people on the streets with cell phones and there are so many goods in the shops it makes my head spin."

Grzebski awoke to find his four children had all married and produced 11 grandchildren during his years in hospital.

He said he vaguely recalled the family gatherings he was taken to while in a coma and his wife and children trying to communicate with him.



From there, I stumbled on this interesting story about Kirk Cameron preaching and this entertaining take on YouTube called GodTube where I found these two funny vids:


Mac vs. PC ad parody




"Baby Got Book", a parody of the rap hit "Baby Got Back":





Man, I just love my web! Till next time, kids.