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Seventeen-year-old Kyla Barker is a girl after my own heart. Having spent several years improving her own health and body image, she is now hoping to pass her knowledge along to middle school students in her town hoping she can prevent eating disorders there and beyond.

Tummy tucks, breast enlargement, rib removal � all are byproducts of the Barbie-doll myth sold to kids at an early age, says Barker. She also points to pop culture � MTV, beauty magazines and movies � as feeding to young people what she calls a ‘Barbie-doll complex’.

Those of you who know me, and who remember razzberry, know that I agree.

Read about Kyla and her mission.

catbird :: Feb.26.2003 :: socio-pop :: Comments Off

The Songs Inspired by Literature (sibl) Project uses “music as a vehicle to engage, inspire and reinforce the magic of literature and the power of reading”. Very cool.

Besides a songwriting competition, the project also has released two benefit CDs including artists such as Suzanne Vega, Tom Waits, David Bowie, and Bruce Springsteen.

the sibl project.

catbird :: Feb.26.2003 :: socio-pop :: 1 Comment »

Nearly 10,000 School Children From 200 New York City Public Schools To Visit Matisse Picasso For Free and Further Explore Exhibition in the Classroom

NEW YORK, Feb. 26 /PRNewswire/ — Merrill Lynch and The Museum of Modern Art announced today that nearly 10,000 school children from 200 New York City public schools will attend the Matisse Picasso exhibition for free as part of a comprehensive educational program.

Read about it.

catbird :: Feb.26.2003 :: cat rants :: Comments Off

For my birthday, Steve got me tickets to Matisse Picasso and we went last Saturday. Not surprisingly, it was amazing.

Although I have seen quite a few of the Picasso works before, I never tire of them (and there were others that I had not yet seen). It was fascinating to view works side by side and see how the two artists fed off of and influenced each other.

The exhibit is at the MoMA in Queens, which was incredibly easy to reach. Before we went, I looked through my book, Matisse, Picasso, Miro As I Knew Them by Rosamond Bernier. Thanks Dave Reid, for that gift on my 25th birthday!

catbird :: Feb.19.2003 :: cat rants :: Comments Off

This just sounds like a bad idea all around. Penguins don’t belong on jets and they aren’t toys. As if it isn’t absurd enough that penguins are forced to live in a place so unlike their natural habitiat as Texas, they would be used to promote the park as a summer destination.

“Southwest Airlines is seeking the government’s approval to bring back its popular SeaWorld penguin tours, in which two of the tuxedoed waddlers are put on jets to promote the amusement park as a summer destination. The promotion was shut down after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, and some security concerns must be addressed before the promotion can restart. SeaWorld and Southwest Airlines have worked since the 1980s to lure business to parks in San Antonio, San Diego, and Orlando. Southwest flew SeaWorld animals � most often their penguins, but sometimes parrots � to cities that have nonstop flights to the parks.” (From USA Today.)

Airlines are already balking at allowing pets on planes if the government makes them report figures on how many animals they lose and how many die or are injured on their planes. But, hey, who cares if they lose the penguins, right?

catbird :: Feb.12.2003 :: cat rants :: 2 Comments »

Lexus recently built a web site called Luxury for Living that is designed to provide content while also subtly advertising the company’s products.

According to Geoffrey Ramsey, chief executive at eMarketer, a market research firm in New York, “Advertising on the World Wide Web needs to provide useful information because Web users typically go to the Internet for a specific reason and do not want to be bothered.”

Hey, I’m not saying this is the wrong strategy (or the right one, either), but haven’t advertisers been doing this this since the mid-90s?

catbird :: Feb.11.2003 :: cat rants :: Comments Off

A proposed law in Colorado would give pets the status of companion and allow people to sue animal abusers and veterinarians for “loss of companionship.”

At first read, I was for this law. Pets should be considered companions, not property. There should be more deterrents and penalties for animal abuse.

But is this law just instigating an already litigious society? Could I be sued if I hit my neighbor’s dog - the dog that my neighbor allows to run loose? What about the kids who abuse animals - are their parents liable for their actions? And speaking of the horrible atrocities that some children commit, what if kids abuse an animal that isn’t a pet?

Veterinarians claim that this law would increase the cost of health care for pets. Hmmm… is that a threat or a fact?

Although I certainly can see where the vets are coming from, the bill:

…would prohibit veterinarians from administering any vaccine more frequently than recommended by experts.

This sounds wonderful to me (provided, I guess, on who the “experts” are….)

Right now I’m not sure what I really think of this proposed law. Maybe I’m just skeptical because it comes from the Republicans.

catbird :: Feb.11.2003 :: woof :: Comments Off

provenance: unknown

As long as I have been writing for the web (both copy writing and editorial writing), this is the first web copy style site I have found that I really like.

catbird :: Feb.11.2003 :: cat rants :: 1 Comment »

Does President Bush intentionally mispronounce “nuclear” as “nucular”?

“There is always an appeal to a certain amount of folksiness by a president…. The president is supposed to be populist and of the people. I don’t think [presidents] make any overt attempt to come across as learned or scholarly. This country has a big distrust of people that are considered to be too educated.”

The full story

Side note: This statement is just one more piece of evidence that President Bartlet ran against a pseudo President Bush on The West Wing.

catbird :: Feb.06.2003 :: socio-pop :: Comments Off

In an interview in the Men’s Journal, Bruce Willis gave up his favorite pick up line:

“You just walk up to somebody and say, ‘What are you doing for sex tonight?’”

If your not Bruce Willis this line probably doesn’t work.

catbird :: Feb.03.2003 :: socio-pop :: Comments Off

Israeli company Supergum (website not yet available), which (among other things) manufactures nuclear, biological and chemical protective gear, has now developed a protection kit for animals.

The kits use a plastic bubble surrounding a cage along with air filters and blowers to safely provide pets with purified air. Power is supplied by four batteries that last six hours (you’ll need to stock up) and the kits cost $185 to $350 (USD). the full story

catbird :: Feb.03.2003 :: woof :: Comments Off