Summer Camp Deluxe!

My soon to be step-grandson (he's still insisting on the step part)would love this chance to travel to California to go to Catalina Island Camps. I'm entering him to win a session of summer camp for a child at Catalina Island Camps from the SITS Girls! Some kids are just that special.

Do you have a special child in your life who deserves a great summer camping experience? Something that is a major step up from day camp or even sleep-away camp with the Scouts? Catalina Island Camps is certainly that! Take the time to browse their web site and learn more about them.

Catalina Island Camps offers campers the opportunity to try skin diving, kayaking, sailing, power boat activities, stand up paddle boards, target sports, climbing, ropes course, challenge, gardening & composting, nature, outdoor cooking, photo journalism, arts & crafts, day trips, overnights, and Thursday Morning Adventure Trips.  Wow! When do they sleep? And can I come along? (kidding)

My soon to be step-grandson would love the photo journalism, paddle boards and kayaking.  The boy lives in the water and likes nothing better than a week at the east coast shore.  The west coast would be a new experience for him. The skin diving would also be a new experience.  Better yet the chance to travel and meet new people would increase his socialization skills.  He'd love Catalina Island Camp and he'd grow so much in just that short time away from home.  It's one of those things that are definitely a luxury for him but a real learning experience!

Want to see what this Catalina Island Camp looks like? Go visit their web site to get all the details as well as see what a great summer experience this camp offers kids.  But Catalina Island Camp doesn't just offer fancy experiences to each child, they offer the opportunity to develop friendships, become independent, and develop into better students, children, young adults and adults.  They are closely supervised by the camp's staff, many of whom return year after year.  They all have specialized certifications to help make your child's camp stay safe.  To learn more about how Catalina Island Camp chooses it's camp counselors follow this link.  Better yet, the camp is run by a husband and wife team not an huge corporation whose only concern is the bottom line.  THEY CARE! I don't know about you but anytime I choose a place for a child that's the first thing I look for.  Activities can easily be duplicated, and if they don't do them at camp you can do them with them, but a camping experience where everyone cares? It just can't be beat!

So if you're thinking about sending your child or grandchild to camp for the summer, take a look at Catalina Island Camp.  Consider the difference the experiences offered by a sleep-away camp give a child, then add the extras that Catalina Island Camp gives your child/grandchild.. I think you'll find that Catalina Camp offers a deluxe camping experience for any child or tween. or teen.  In fact I bet it ends up on the top of your list.

Starbucks Means Love

Video courtesy of YouTube

There are some times in your life when a hot drink from Starbucks means love. And sometimes there is someone whose efforts to help others strikes a chord in my heart. Dan's story shown here on YouTube is one of those people who are making their life better by helping others.  


Who is Dan? Dan Dewey is a volunteer. He brings the people coffee or tea (and a smile) to patients as they wait for their chemo treatments. 


Yes, the video is by Starbucks, but Dan Dewey is real. And he has real heart. He makes me think 'what have I done for someone else lately?'  How about you? How does Dan make you feel? Starbucks wants you to share your 'everylove' story with them by sending them stories of people who care at this link.  


What is Everylove all about? According to Starbucks "Everylove is for all the relationships in your life worth celebrating. It appears differently to each of us, but we all recognize it the same – by the flutter in our hearts and the smiles on our faces. It appears as a laughing friend, a helping hand, a familiar face. We’d love to hear what this special feeling means to you. Tell us about the simple joys people create in your life – tell us about your everylove."

Valentine's Day Gifts

Shopping for a Valentine's gift for your girl squirrel? Yes, squirrel merchandising has gone over the top. You can buy your girl squirrel some squirrel lingerie. Make her 'pretty in pink' as she raids your feeder and grabs those acorns and buries them in your yard. 

Sometimes I have serious concerns about people who market things like this in the United States (or anywhere else). I mean, hey, I'm all for fashion...but for squirrels? What's next? Stilettos for squirrels? Some red lipstick maybe? Or maybe something as simple as a bright red thong? Yes, this is a real product.  But no, I didn't buy one.  Nor am I planning to. But it's one of those things that make you go hmmmm....

YouTube video courtesy of Archie McPhee and YouTube

Want to shop for the squirrel in your yard? You can buy this pink lingerie for lady squirrels at this site.  Oh, and they have some underpants for the male squirrels too, don't want to discriminate!  Shop early, shop often, oh, and they're coming to take you away...

The Beast of Bodim Moor and Black Squirrels

While the Beast of Bodim Moor and the black squirrel may seem to have little in common other than their color, their origin may be the same. Who is to blame for the sightings of the black beast called the Beast of Bodim Moor? Or for the black squirrel infestation? Well if you live in England there's a good chance you should be blaming your ancestors for their arrival on the shores of England.  

The English aristocracy in Edwardian times were big travelers and liked nothing better than to bring home exotic animals to show off.  Some they brought home stuffed (yuck!) but yet others they shipped home alive to show off to their friends and keep in their private menageries.  

"After dinner, we'll have port and cigars and then look at the striped horse they call a Zebra." Yes, the Edwardians loved menageries of all types--which is when this squirrel arrived.  Regretfully they did not stop at simply stuffing them to bring them home, they brought them home like Noah, in pairs, two by two, which meant they reproduced...and reproduced...and reproduced. Until today they are no longer unique at all, but rather have taken over!

The black squirrel at one time was believed to be genetic mutation of grey squirrels, however genetic testing revealed it is exactly the same as the black squirrel found in the United States. 

How did the black squirrels go from private zoos to your back yard? It seems these critters periodically ...uh...escaped. 

Photo courtesy of Parascientifica

It was not unusual for animals imported for the entertainment of the aristocracy to escape. The Beast of Bodim Moor is said to possibly be an escaped black panther from a private menagerie of this time. Since it was illegal to own and import these animals obviously it was tricky reporting that you had one that had escaped. 

The first wild black squirrel was seen in 1912 near Letchworth in Hertfordshire.  It is believed to have escaped from the private collection of the Duke of Bedford who owned Woburn in Bedfordshire.  These black squirrels (the same species as the gray squirrels) are taking over and may soon outnumber the native red squirrels.  

Another escaped critter causing problems in England is the edible dormouse (Glis glis). In 1902 a handful of these escaped. Today? Their numbers are estimated to be 20,000, all in a 25 mile radius of Tring. Cute? Yes. Problematic? Definitely. Not only are they noisy but the local homeowners complain edible dormice gnaw through electrical cables, strip bark from trees and produce huge amounts of waste.  

So the next time you're on vacation and find a cute critter and think it would be fun to bring it home and sneak it through customs... don't do it! You could be a modern day Duke of Bedford (and we don't mean you'll receive a title from the Crown!). You could be permanently altering the environment.  

Saber Tooth Squirrels?

Photo courtesy of Beyond The Rhetoroic by Michael Kwan and the movie Ice Age

Scientists have reported the discovery of a saber tooth squirrel. It seems squirrels have managed to survive a VERY long time. In the journal Nature, lead researcher Guillermo Rougier, a professor from the University of Louisville, reported that the study team believes they have found the fossilized remains of a creature known as Cronopio dentiacutus. Drawings of Cronopio dentiacutus resemble some of the animals seen in the movie "Ice Age."

Photo courtesy of CNN blog "Lightyears"

Previously there has been a large gap in the fossil record of mammals in South America from about 60 million to 120 million years ago.  Cronopio dentiacutus was a mouse-size squirrel whose teeth were very long in proportion to the rest of his body, and technically wasn't really saber toothed or a squirrel.  This mouse-sized squirrel with proportionally long teeth, was technically speaking neither a squirrel nor saber-toothed. The extinct mammal, who lived approximately 94 million years ago was the forerunner of today's marsupials and placental animals. It has been extinct for about 60 million years. 

When Rougier and his colleagues examined the unique skull of this animal they report "It was a lot more primitive than we are with regard to the way in which the skull was put together; the teeth were very primitive," and "The skull is about an inch long." 

They believe the animal was an insectivore which is common for small mammals today. They had teeth that appeared to be specialized for crushing and cutting; Cronopio dentiacutus could puncture right through small insects. Rougier said if you want to imagine what they looked like think what you would look like if your teeth came down below your chin. (Now that's an attractive picture!)

These primitive animals lived during the same time period as snakes with legs, small carnivorous dinosaurs and terrestrial crocodiles. They lived in the flood plains of Argentina that today is a desert area in Patagonia. At the time they existed most mammals were very small. It was not until later when big dinosaurs were extinct that mammals grew to be the size of large cats and dogs. Rougier says "These were the tiny little guys that would squirrel in between the toes of the dinosaurs trying not to get stepped on." 

I guess the next time I'm complaining about the squirrels eating the birdseed it could be worse, they could be tryin to hide between my toes!

Big Miracle - A Whale Of A Tale

Today my husband and I had some free advance screening tickets for the new movie, Big Miracle, starring Drew Barrymore and John Krasinski.**

Photo courtesy of moviefone

The preview of Big Miracle was held at the UA Theater in King of Prussia (A Regal Entertainment Group Theater), 300 Goddard Blvd., King of Prussia PA. This is possibly one of the most luxe movie theaters in the area. It has multiple screens as well as an IMAX theater, The UA King Of Prussia is also possibly the most comfortable theater in the area.  And it was the perfect place to see this miracle of a movie.
When we arrived the B101 car was right out in front of the theater, and their mascot was inside. Prizes were being given for trivia answers about the movie and the radio station. Hint: If you have kids who want to win prizes, sit down near the front, you have a better chance of getting noticed! And know what the movie is about... you need the right answers to win.

After the Bee and B101 staffers handed out all the prizes and left, the lights went down and the movie Big Miracle began. This is when everyone in the audience became a winner.


Trailer courtesy of YouTube

The story transports the viewer to Barrow, Alaska where Krasinski's character is filming local color for an Alaskan television station.  While filming he spots the trapped whale family.  The rest of the story is history, real history.


Video of James interviewing Drew Barrymore
courtesy of Greenpeace International on YouTube

The movie is a tear jerker at times, all about love, family, life and death. You meet the natives of Barrow, the 'rabid' press, the government politicos and the environmentalists. See how the story played out around the world.  And how nations as well as different cultures worked together to solve a problem bigger than just one nation, one state, one culture, or one special interest group.

My recommendation? This is a five star "GO SEE!" Take your kids, your friends, your teens, this movie has something for almost everyone.  Oh, and take some tissues... if you aren't crying the lady sitting next to you might be!

Read more about Greenpeace International and the story behind the Big Miracle here. 

"There's Always Something You Can Do," is the catch phrase of the Greenpeace activist played by Drew Barrymore. This phrase is the essence of this movie and it's message.  It's the reason to take your children as well as your friends to see this movie.  It's why you'll want a copy of Big Miracle in your home theater library. It's not just a "Save the Whales" movie, it's a "Get Involved" message. Big Miracle is a movie about working together for the common good.


**The blogger received free movie passes for this advance screening without the expectation of a positive movie review and/or commentary.  All opinions about the movie are her own and were not influenced by the company providing the tickets, the theater, the distributor or the filmmakers.  Comments are the blogger's own opinion, your experience may differ.

Race To The Finish

The current Republican primaries are a race to the finish, the next Presidential election.  After the Florida Republican primary it looks like Mitt Romney has the nomination sewn up.  Quite why the rest of the group (primarily Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum) are still hanging in there, wasting vast sums of money, trying to defeat Mitt Romney is beyond me.

It looks like the remaining Republican primaries are men running for the glory...or should I say running to jockey for the position of Vice President or Secretary of State? (Or whichever cabinet position each one wants.)

You'd think they would have learned that it doesn't pay to take a cabinet position.  Look at poor Hillary Clinton, sucked into being Secretary of State when Obama took office, and she hasn't had time to breathe since. Why anyone wants that job in the world today I don't know.

Anyone who takes the job as VP might as well spend a lot of time writing essays called "How I Wasted Eight Years of My Life". Yes, there's the possibility of a presidential run after Romney, but there's no guarantee.  Being VP doesn't even get you a great book deal. And face it, the VP doesn't get any respect! Yes, he's discussed on television, but usually as the butt of jokes by Jay Leno, Dave Letterman and Saturday Night Live. Some make it to the presidency but more don't.

Gingrich may have torpedoed any hopes he had of the VP position by the barbs he threw at Mitt during the primaries, especially in Florida. The VP is supposed to have your back, not stab you in it. Floridians sent Gingrich a clear message in the primary: you're OK as a support system but REALLY, we don't want you as president. Romney would be looking over his shoulder the whole time he was in office if he put Newt on the ticket.

Secretary of State for Newt? It's a  possibility. Newt has some experience in foreign affairs and it would get him out of Romney's hair (at least if the amount of traveling Hillary's been doing during Obama's presidency is any indication.)

What's Santorum looking for? Given his relatively young age I'd say he's looking for a run eight or twelve years down the road. Possibly a cabinet post, but more likely a future presidential bid all his own. Personally, I doubt he has a chance, but then there were people who said Kennedy would never get elected, that Obama couldn't make the cut, so you just never know what will happen in the future to catapult a long shot into the White House.

Romney's biggest problem is can he beat Obama in the Presidential bid? Is he too rich? Too conceited? Too Mormon? Too full of himself? Can his wife be as charismatic as Michelle Obama? I guess we'll all just wait and see.

Just remember, if you don't vote whoever gets elected or doesn't get elected is on you. Don't complain down the road if you can't be bothered to take a few minutes out of your day to vote.