Merry Christmas from Bose

My friend Linda submitted a photo of my dog Bose to a national organization, Corgi Aid, for their Christmas Card. And he won! This card went out to Corgi Aid people all over the country -- and there are thousands!

Some background: Linda runs Pet's Second Chance, a not-for-profit organization in St. Louis focused on Corgis who have been abandoned by their owners due to divorce, moving, birth of children, and the many other reasons that families may no longer be able to keep their Corgi. I fostered Bose for Linda starting in October 2007 and eventually adopted him several months ago. Bose is both deaf and epileptic and has been helped by Corgi Aid.

Chilly!

Two quick things:

1) Here in St. Louis, it's quite chilly on this first day of winter; the temperature is dropping all day to a forecasted low of one degree tonight.

2) Head on over to The Snikk Blog for a great posting about my canine buddy, Chilly Dog!

Frightening and jolly

My nephew Willie having some fun:

You'll want to reach out and hug "Bolt"

My freelance review:

If you love dogs, you'll love Bolt, Disney's new cartoon movie. (And if you don't love dogs, you should.)

The voice of John Travolta is the voice of Bolt, a dog who -- day after day -- faces danger and intrigue to rescue his "person" Penny (voiced by Miley Cyrus) from a new set of bad guys. He's quite the super-hero, but he's just doing what a dog should do -- kind of like an exaggerated version of barking at the mailman!

But it's all a facade. Bolt doesn't see the special effects crew making all of his Indiana Jones-style antics possible -- nor the cameras filming it all. That is all kept from him, for fear that if he finds out what's going on, neither he nor his #1 TV show would be quite the same.

Bolt is a delight, a sweet story with plenty of action, comedy and heart. Bolt says things that I imagine my own dogs saying, if they could talk. And after he accidently falls into a shipping box that sends him from Hollywood to New York, Bolt teams up with a jaded cat named Mittens and a sarcastic hamster named Rhino. Mittens helps Bolt realize the joys of being a normal dog -- for the first time, and the trio head cross-country to get Bolt back home to his "person."

I think Bolt is going to have great appeal throughout the holiday season. The animation, most of which is computer-generated, is superb but not overly-done. There's an overall beauty to the visuals that hark back to the old hand-drawn Disney classics.

And in select theatres, Bolt is in 3-D, making it all the more tempting to want to reach out and hug Bolt!

Polly the kitten

Some people can be so cruel and others so kind. Observe the stark contrast here:

"W." strives for acceptance

My freelance review of W., which opens today:

According to recent polls, nearly three-fourths of Americans disapprove of George W. Bush's performance as president.

Oliver Stone's new film W. explores aspects of this performance -- as well as Bush as a young adult trying to find his place in the world.

Josh Brolin (No Country for Old Men) is effective as Bush. He has many of his quirky mannerisms down as the film bounces back and forth between the post-9/11, wartime Oval Office and the 1980s/90s struggles between Bush and his father (played by James Cromwell).

The Oval Office scenes are mostly focused on the Iraq War and Bush's interactions with his immediate staff (including Richard Dreyfess' spot-on depiction of Dick Cheney, Scott Glenn's Donald Rumsfeld, Thandie Newton's Condoleeza Rice, and Toby Jones' rather creepy portrayal of Karl Rove).

At 131 minutes, the film is a bit on the long side. But there's a fair amount of humor interspersed within Stone's portrait of Bush, which is more human and complex than expected. Recurrently throughout the film, Bush is displayed as someone very much in need of his father's acceptance.

At this point, if you're among the 25% who approval of Bush's performance, you might want to refrain from seeing W. to keep your blood pressure in check. Otherwise, your political leanings will probably dictate just how much you would appreciate or not appreciate W.

I really need to clean my patio door...

From left, Scooter, Oliver, Bose and Dawson.