URGENT!!! All Pet Owners -- Please Read

ALBANY, N.Y. - Rodent poison has been found in pet food blamed for the deaths of at least 16 cats and dogs, a spokeswoman for the State Department of Agriculture and Markets said Friday.

Spokeswoman Jessica Chittenden would not identify the chemical or its source beyond saying it was a rodent poison.

State agriculture officials scheduled a news conference Friday at 1 p.m. EST to release laboratory findings from tests on the pet food conducted this week.

The rat poison, which may have been used on wheat imported from China, is illegal in the U.S., NBC News correspondent Tom Costello told MSNBC TV.

The deaths led to a recall of 60 million cans and pouches of "cuts and gravy" style pet food produced by Menu Foods and sold throughout North America under 95 brand names. There have been reports of kidney failure, some fatal, in pets that ate the recalled brands. The company has confirmed the deaths of 15 cats and one dog.

The recall sparked concern among pet owners across North America. It includes food sold under store brands carried by Wal-Mart, Kroger, Safeway and other large retailers, as well as private labels such as Iams, Nutro and Eukanuba.

It includes food sold under store brands carried by Wal-Mart, Kroger, Safeway and other large retailers, as well as private labels like Iams, Nutro and Eukanuba. Call centers hired by the company received 47,000 calls over the weekend, Henderson said.

There have been tests on 10 cats that died performed by an outside company for Menu Foods. The results show only that the cats died of acute kidney failure.

The FDA has sent investigators to New Jersey and Kansas plants operated by Menu Foods.

Wheat gluten is a source of protein and was used to thicken the gravy in the pet food, sold in both cans and pouches, according to the FDA.

Menu Foods has recalled 60 million cans and pouches of pet food sold throughout North America under 95 brand names. The food was distributed by major retailers such as Wal-Mart, Kroger and Safeway.

The recalled brands are:

Cat Food

• Americas Choice, Preferred Pets
• Authority
• Best Choice
• Companion
• Compliments
• Demoulas Market Basket
• Eukanuba
• Fine Feline Cat
• Food Lion
• Foodtown
• Giant Companion
• Hannaford
• Hill country Fare
• Hy-Vee
• Iams
• Key Food
• Laura Lynn
• Li’l Red
• Loving Meals
• Meijers Main Choice
• Nutriplan
• Nutro Max Gourmet Classics
• Nutro Natural Choice
• Paws
• Pet Pride
• Presidents Choice
• Price Chopper
• Priority
• Save-A-Lot
• Schnucks
• Science Diet (The recall affects only 3-ounce and 5.5-ounce cans of Kitten Savory Cuts Ocean Fish; 5.5-ounce cans of Feline Adult Savory Cuts Beef, Chicken and Ocean Fish, and 5.5-ounce cans of Feline Senior Savory Cuts Chicken.)
• Sophisticat
• Special Kitty Canada
• Special Kitty U.S.
• Springfield Prize
• Sprout
• Total Pet, My True Friend
• Wegmans
• Western Family U.S.
• White Rose
• Winn Dixie

Dog Food

• Americas Choice, Preferred Pets
• Authority
• Award
• Best Choice
• Big Bet
• Big Red
• Bloom
• Bruiser
• Cadillac
• Companion
• Demoulas Market Basket
• Eukanuba
• Food Lion
• Giant Companion
• Great Choice
• Hannaford
• Hill Country Fare
• Hy-Vee
• Iams
• Key Food
• Laura Lynn
• Loving Meals
• Meijers Main Choice
• Mighty Dog (The recall affects only 5.3 pouch products that were produced from Dec. 3, 2006 through March 14, 2007.)
• Mixables
• Nutriplan
• Nutro Max
• Nutro Natural Choice
• Nutro Utra
• Nutro
• Ol’Roy Canada
• Ol’Roy U.S.
• Paws
• Pet Essentials
• Pet Pride - Good ’n Meaty
• Presidents Choice
• Price Chopper
• Priority Canada
• Priority U.S.
• Publix
• Roche Bros
• Save-A-Lot
• Schnucks
• Shep Dog
• Springfield Prize
• Sprout
• Stater Bros
• Stop & Shop Companion
• Tops Companion
• Wegmans Bruiser
• Weis Total Pet
• Western Family U.S.
• White Rose
• Winn Dixie
• Your Pet

Here Comes Peter Cottontail...

So, now that I have had the opportunity to decompress from my 6-days of non-stop flying, I have been able to spend a little time in the yard.

Last fall, Cole and I decided to try out something we saw on HGTV -- naturalizing our front lawn with crocus bulbs. The neighbors who saw what we were doing were all freaked because, argueably, we have the best looking grass in the whole development and they couldn't understand why we would be digging it up to plant bulbs.

Well, our little "easter eggs" started to hatch last week and I wanted to share with you some of the pictures I took of them and see what you think. I am very happy with the results and I think a few of the neighbors are contemplating doing it to their yards this fall.

Enjoy!

What's in a freakin' name?

My sister, Peggy and I have a funny sort of relationship.

Much of it is drawn on the fact that we have this amazing ability to make each other laugh. Many times, if she and I are in the room together, we can be laughing at the most obscure thing, and anyone else in the room will be giving us the evil eye -- not exactly sure why that is, but I'm pretty confident it's because they are either jealous, or else they feel they've become the butt of our joke (sometimes -- IT'S TRUE!)

Peggy has a great blog site over at Blogger, and it was she who got me going on posting my random thoughts, musings and life's happenings on a regular basis. I'll admit though, she's much more devoted to it than I am. She has a talent for writing and she's a good girl too. Love ya, Piglet! Anyhow, one of her more recent blogs was a discussion on how people assume that her given name is Margaret when in reality it's just Peggy. She was wondering how these two names were connected -- and since she asked, it piqued my curiosity as well. So I did a little research, and I believe I have discovered how this all occurred. Peggy, you can blame the Scots for your troubles!

To begin with, the name Peggy is what is known as a "diminuative," or "nickname" and back in the day, diminuatives were only used to speak down to people or were created by adults to use on children to remind them of their place in society -- they were to be seen and not heard and they were required to 'earn' their adult status, thus breaking free of the nickname and being addressed in an adult fashion, using their proper, given name. Over time, however, these diminuatives became more terms of endearment rather than terms of social place.

Almost all diminuatives, though, are corrupted versions of the original given names, and the Scots were the most guilty of this practice. Funny as that seems, Margaret apparently is one given name that has a huge number of morphed versions. The more obvious ones would be Marge, Marta, Maggy or even Greta and Gretel. As it turns out, Maggie was created because in many instances, the 'r' after the first 'a' was often dropped, and in the case of Greta and Gretel, the entire "mar" was deleted.

Then a new 'rule' would develop later that, due to local accents within the Scottish countryside, is when the first 'a' in the name would evolve into an 'e' -- thus Maggie became Meggie or just Meg (which also morphed into Megan). Later the Brits and the Scots would add 'ette' or 'etta' to these diminuatives, so once again, Margaret evolved into Margaretta.

Then we have my sister's name. It turns out that the Anglo-Saxons began dropping or swapping letters in these nicknames -- so names like Henry changed to Hal, Mary turned into Molly and Dorothy into Dolly.

Thus, over time, several generations of Margaret had evolved to form Maggie to Meg to the now infamous Peg or Peggy or even Pegine.

So there you have it. Class dismissed.

And Peggy -- you will always be Piglet to me! (or is that Pigletta?) Smile!

Get thee behind me...ambulance chasers!

It was bound to happen...it was inevitable. Seriously, emergencies don't happen when things are "normal!" Do they?

So I'm bored out of my mind tonight...oh wait, it was last night...'cause it's 2:37 in the freakin' morning right now! So, I *was* bored out of my mind *last night* and nothing was going on of any interest. Cole had flown to Denver earlier in the afternoon, T.V. was dullsville and I was all caught up on my e-mails.

I decided to get caught up on some back episodes on TiVo that I haven't yet viewed when the phone rings. I look at the caller I.D. and see it's a business. I almost didn't pick up the phone, but it was just about 10:00 p.m. and I knew that there wouldn't be a 'normal' call coming at me this late.

It's my neighbor Olane (it's pronounced 'Oh-lahn'). She's a cute little asian girl, the wife of a hunky, blond surfer-dude type and together they are a great couple. They've been married for about 18 months. Her husband, Rocky (yes, that IS his name) had left for a business trip to China on Saturday and she's been holding down the fort on her own for the past few days.

A couple of days ago, Olane broke the news to Cole and I that she was 10 weeks pregnant and this will be their first child. Excitement and glee all around! These kids' kids are gonna be gorgeous!!! For SURE we'll be the two gay uncles next door.

Earlier this afternoon, I was out in the garden getting the old dead plants cleared from the planting beds and Olane was doing the same. We were musing about the crocus bulbs that were blooming in our grass. Cole and I had planted them last year and our neighbors were all like "What are those crazy gay boys doing now?" Now they are all like "Da-yum!"

So as were were chatting casually, Olane says to me, "So I told you guys about our fun little surprise?" To which I replied, "Oh yeah, we are soooo happy for you guys." And she's like, "So, our little surprise went away this morning." -- as if she had just told me that the weather was just perfect today or something rather mundane. WHAT??!!!

So now I was all bummed and sorta feeling a bit ridiculous for having gushed a little at the thought that our neighbors were prepping for a new bundle of joy in their lives! But she was all like "Nah, I'm ok...I cried a bit this morning and called Rocky in China and he was sad, but it will be ok." HONEY, maybe YOU are ok, but **I** need a drink!

I was impressed with how well she had been taking it. I suppose we all grieve in our own way, so if she was mourning her loss, it was so not evident. Which leads me to tonight at 9:49 p.m. when the "business" number appeared on my caller I.D.

It was Olane. This time, however, she was sobbing and tearful and I could hear some real fear in her voice. She told me that she was doubled over in pain and couldn't get up. She was on the floor and had been on the phone with her doctor's on-call nurse, who was about as helpful as a do-it-yourself tooth extraction service. The nurse wasn't doing much to help calm her nerves and with Rocky being on the other side of the planet at the moment, she was feeling truly isolated!

Immeadiately, my 'caretaker flight attendant' mode kicked in. I ran next door, finding her in the fetal position in the hallway, cell-phone clenched in her hands (thus the source of the 'business call' at my house -- this was her work cell-phone!).

I got her situated in my car and we booked for the nearest hospital, about 15 miles away. I ended up missing the Emergency Room entrance since the lighted sign wasn't lighted tonight. I took her hand and guided her to the Triage desk, helped her fill out the papers and sat her in the waiting area. The Triage nurse asked her to rate the pain she was feeling from 1 to 10, 10 being the worst. She said that it was definately a 10 pain, worst she had ever felt. While waiting for an ER room, she stood up with a panicked look on her face. She told me that she felt a huge rush of what she was sure was blood. She hurried in to the restroom and didn't come out for about 10 minutes.

When she did return, she didn't seem as pained, and she then tells me, "I think that might have been the baby!" Ah...um...eh..."Erv, clean up on aisle 4!" Olane, I asked, I thought you said you had already miscarried? She said, well I thought I had, but I think maybe I just did now. I could see the fear and the anguish filling her cute little face. It was a gargantuan effort for me not to break down right there. But I knew I needed to be a rock for her, her "substitute Rocky."

Well, several hours, ultrasound and blood tests later, she was released, knowing that she had, in fact, lost the baby and that she wan't suffering from an ectopic pregnancy. The doctor was great, telling her to get bed rest for several days, and to really, not be embarassed if she needed time to grieve. **I** wanted to hug this guy!

As we pulled into the driveway, Olane turned to me. "Rocky owes you big time" she said. I waited for her to go into the house. Doors locked. Um...ah...eh...No house keys! Luckily, one of their basement windows was unlocked and I hurredly ran upstairs and opened the front door for her. "Olane," I told her, "If you need anything at all, even if it's 4 a.m., you call me immediately!"

She smiled, thanked me and closed the door gently. I thought to myself, "What a day I'm having!" And it occurred to me that I had heard that in the ER waiting room tonight. AMC was showing "Splash" and Eugene Levy's character had said the same thing in the movie.

As I closed the garage door, I looked down at my front yard to the crocuses that were in bloom, albeit they were closed up tight for the night, my softee side started to surface. I thought "I wish I could pick a bouquet of these and give them to her just to enjoy, and to let her know that life does indeed carry on, and that this is all part of life's road and the travels we encounter along the way.

So, I know you can't smell them, dear, but here they are nonetheless. May they soothe your troubled heart!

Caution: Confusion ahead. . .

I found out today that my kid sister is going to be naming her new baby Isaac Douglas. He's due here sometime in July and I'll keep you updated on that. I was somewhat surprised to their choice of name. Isaac seems like such a Jewish name. Now, don't get the wrong idea. I have a ton of great Jewish friends and highly regard them and their culture. But our family is as WASPy as you can get, and add to it the fact that Whitney married a great guy who happens to be of Asian decent and...well, I think you kind of see where I'm headed here.

Names are a very deeply personal thing for new parents. They sometimes know right away what they will name their children. Others pick out a system for it, like all the kids names starting with "B" or perhaps they rhyme with one another. Still others agonize over thousands of names, just totally unsure of what that perfect name will be.

I will hand it to her though, there aren't that many Isaacs running around in our neighborhood, and I haven't notcied any recent baby-naming trends that include it on their top 10 list. Maybe she and Jack will start the newest trend in boy baby names -- who knows!

When i spoke to her on the phone, I asked her if she had a nick-name that she might use. "Izzy" was definately out of the question, but she's leaning toward Zach! A wonderful name, except for one small detail: Zach is also my cat's name and he's got 6 years on Isaac! So, when I mention "Zach" to my family, will they still be reminded of my little fuzzball at my house, or will his name be usurped by the newest HUMAN addition to our growing family?

Sounds petty, I know, but I suppose I never really had to think about it before, and everyone who knows me personally knows how deeply I care about my Zach. So now, I suppose I need to grow up a little bit and realize that we have TWO Dougs in our family (Doug Sr. & Doug Jr.) although we usually refer to Sr. as "Dad" and Jr. as"Doug" or "Dougy." We also have TWO Amys in the family as well, though one is usually AmyJo and the other is AmyAnn.

Now I'm thinking that I will have to place a claification on it with Zach. Will I use, "My Cat, Zach" or "The OTHER Zach" or will I just never mention his name in passing to my family again, "My feline did the funniest thing today..."

Again, I'm being totally screwy with this and it's immensely childish and selfish of me. I KNOW that I will love Whitney's new son with open arms and shower him with all the love and attention that I do my other nieces and nephews. But I may have to draw the line on calling him Zach!

Hey "Kiddo" Want to go for some ice cream?

Thanks for voting for contestant...

And so another week is done, another show is in the can, and another phenominal night of female singers has been showcased. Randy hit the nail on the head tonight: The women present a totally different show, a completely higher level of competition and a much more mature quality than the men.

I was duly impressed with several of the contestants tonight, not the least of which was Gina Glocksen, who has finally emerged as the rocker that she obviously is and can be. She doesn't come off as a "bad girl" but I never thought that one needed that persona to pull it off. Gina may actually be able to do that!

Stephanie has definately got some class and I like the quality of her voice. Jordin and Sabrina also did pretty well tonight.

LaKisha has got the raw talent. And that she took on one of Whitney's biggest hits is pretty bawlzy of her, but she fell just a tad bit short tonight by not hitting the big note near the end that makes the song nearly unacheivable for most female singers (I think she actually could have done it, but she chose not to make the attempt -- I almost feel like those commentators at the Olympics critiquing the figure skaters, noting how one skater chose a double-axil over a triple-axil -- but this is the level of the competition we are in. We are talking about a multi-million dollar contract at the end of this rainbow!

Once again, though, the shining star was Melinda. There is no doubt that her years as a backup singer, whether on the stage or in the studio, has truly honed her craft to almost sheer perfection and like Paula said tonight, I get anxious to hear her every week, not knowing what new morsel of delight that I will be privvy to hear!

"Thanks for voting for contestant EIGHT!"

Thank goodness I have a redial button!

Sorry is the loneliest word

I had an interesting weekend that offered me some new insights into human nature and how we interact with each other.

During the course of a 3-day trip, my flying partners and I experienced the entire spectrum of emotions, from joy and jocularity, to anger, disgust and sadly, distrust. It has taken me a couple of days to absorb it, collate it in my thoughts and put it out there for the universe to digest.

If there is one thing that I can say with absolute surety, it is that human nature makes us ALL imperfect. Some people strive to overcome the easy way in order to do the right thing; others simply let life play out as it will, more of a spectator than a participant. But like a spectator, they scream and shout from the sidelines when they disagree with the referee, or if the participant makes a mistake.

It's been kinda of funny because during the weekend, I had also witnessed this very "life drama" playing out on TV, in the papers and even at home. What has got me all befuddled is how to cope with it when it affects me personally. I mean, when do we REALLY turn the other cheek, look the other way or ignore the mistake and search for the silver lining?

When I was a younger person, I thought I was more of a "glass is half-full" kind of guy. Life's experiences, however, seemed to pull me under the half-way mark and without warning, I found myself seeing the bad in everything, uncovering the alterior motives of others and becoming, sadly, a cynic and a skeptic. I questioned people's intentions and cross-examined the evidence to conclude that no matter the surface, underneath it all, people were only concerned with one thing: their own agenda.

On two occassions over the weekend, I found myself admitting to mistakes I had made, and then trying to find solice in reparation, asking for understanding and forgiveness of the individuals that I slighted because of my mistakes.

"Eating crow" has never been a delightful experience for me, and I have always tried to think through my penence and make it heartfelt and sincere. I am not a good enough actor to fake my way through it so it is always better for me if I really make sure that I am certain of my apologies. As a pragmatist, however, I suppose that I expect others to accept the sincerity and genuiness of the redress, without the need for further discussion or continued wallowing.

I have witnessed, with some dissapointment, that this is not how we as a society have evolved in our need for restitution. Our interests are in the need to feel superior over the accused and the guilty. We are quick to look down upon the trespasser and say "You hurt me," but when that party seeks absolution, we turn it around and say "I will forgive you AFTER you've paid for your sin!"

And it's no longer "an eye for and eye;" it is "your life for an eye!" That may seem extreme, but considering the huge disparity between the crime and the punishment in small personal matters, it shows a sad conclusion that things have gone too far.

Now before you get the wrong idea, nothing that I "did" to the others this weekend would be grounds for indictment, arrest or other legal remedy. Everyday dealings with friends, family and co-workers rarely culminate to that level. But the way that those who I "wronged" reacted to my attempts to make amends, one would have thought that perhaps it should have escalated to that level. I found that my apology was not only inadequate, but that perhaps the solution to this quandry would be unattainable, at best.

On only two occassions in my life that I can recall, have I not given my sincere forgiveness to someone who asked for it -- and on both occassions, it was because their asking for it came with "strings attached," like that they expected me to apologize also or that some other expectation was required.

These days, I have learned to let it roll off my back (apology or not). These blogs have also been somewhat therapeutic. I don't have any ill-conceived ideas that my blogs will change the world, but perhaps the collective wisdom of my readers might bring me some insight that I have yet to realize. I haven't covered every aspect of these thoughts, but it's a start...

On a completely different tangent, could somebody put an A.P.B. on the REAL judges on AmIdol? I mean, come on folks! The ONLY two performances tonight that were remotely acceptable for this level of the competition were Blake and Chris'! And those were barely passable -- the rest? Thank goodness for TiVo and the Fast Forward button!

Just in case you missed it...

Hmmm...I just can't get enough. But I'm not selfish -- let me share!

MD - AI6

Hit it Melinda!

Goils!

OK! I know I’m late getting in this review of the girls of AmIdol…I’ve been on a trip for 5 days! Get over it! LOL

Since we know who was voted off the show this week, let’s start with that. Once again, American audiences are making this about popularity rather than talent – and let’s face it, this IS a talent contest, not a beauty pageant. Nevertheless, I don’t suppose that anything will change in the near future and so once again, I am gearing up for major disappointments in the coming season as well. Seriously, this is the same audience who voted off Jennifer Hudson, Tamyra Gray, Chris Daughtery and Clay Aiken. So, I need to prepare for the possibility that super talented LaKisha Jones or Melinda Doolittle may face a similar fate.

Having said that, the eliminated singers this week were bound to be shown the door anyhow. But if we’re being honest here, why are Antonella and Sanjaya still making the cut, for a second week in a row? The newspapers are saying it’s because they have built up a fan base. A fan base? Don’t you usually have to be known and GOOD to have a fan base? Don’t you need to have a following? A reputation? Some actual singing history, sprinkled with some actual talent?

From what I hear, Antonella’s popularity stems from seedy pictures of her being distributed on the internet. Say, didn’t past contestants get booted off by default for such a tawdry scandal? Have the standards changed here? And I haven’t even mentioned the fact that she can barely carry a tune, let alone try to sing a Celine power ballad! The USA Today put it just right: She’s got a future in Modeling but she should stay far away from a microphone!

And I’m truly at a loss as to Sanjaya’s staying power. Perhaps it’s the “Puss in Boots” sad eyed faces that he makes whenever he’s on stage or when he’s being judged by Paula, Simon and Randy. Are tween girls really that gaga over this sorry karaoke crooner?

So Nick, Alaina, AJ and Leslie are this week’s casualties. Again, these four were sure to be eliminated anyhow, but just not expected to go so soon.

Now, how ‘bout them womens?

If I were a betting man and a talent scout, I would have to make the final four contestants all girls. And IMHO, they would be LaKisha, Melinda, Stephanie and Sabrina.

Last week LaKisha stole the show with “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going” from Dreamgirls. Simon told her that she laid down the gauntlet and raised the bar for the entire competition. This week, about the only criticism she got was that her outfit was somewhat distracting. Her version of “Midnight Train to Georgia” was totally worth it and she’s a definite force to be reckoned with in Season 6.

She was followed by the “Big Voice in a Tiny Package,” Melinda. I was hearing a combination of Anita Baker, Oleta Adams, Aretha Franklin, and a hint of Shirley Bassey in that voice, and her phrasing choices were out of this world. What’s funny is that two years ago, Constantine Maroulis sang a sultry, jazzed up version of “My Funny Valentine” that was amazing. I was even happy that they decided to record that version on the “American Idol: Season 4 – The Showstoppers” CD and I have this song in my iTunes playlist.

Melinda’s version sent electricity up and down my spine. It was the same feeling that I got when Fantasia offered us that unbelievable rendition of “Summertime” three years ago! I was simply awestruck at the versatility and magnitude of her talent. And notice that it was so (in Simon’s words) “phenomenal” that there was simply no reference to Constantine’s previous effort.

If there is any real justice in the world, Melinda and LaKisha should definitely be in the finale.

But stranger things have happened, so we’ll just have to muddle through our weekly AI ritual until May.

Is it me, or is Ryan seemingly getting queenier and queenier every week? Hmmmmm.