stupid zoo people

You'd think the polar bears are in enough trouble, with the polar cap melting. But here's another reason their numbers are shrinking

ZOO SOLVES MYSTERY OF CELIBATE POLAR BEARS

TOKYO, Japan (CNN) -- Puzzled zookeepers in northern Japan have discovered the reason why their attempts to mate two polar bears kept failing: Both are female.


A 4-year-old polar bear sent to impregnate a female polar bear at a zoo in Kushiro was found to be female as well.

The municipal zoo in the city of Kushiro in Hokkaido brought in a polar bear cub three years ago. They named it Tsuyoshi, after the popular baseball outfielder Tsuyoshi Shinjo, and waited until it reached reproductive age.

In June, the zoo introduced Tsuyoshi to its resident bear, an 11-year-old female named Kurumi, and waited for sparks to fly.

But much to the disappointment of zookeepers, Tsuyoshi never made any amorous advances toward Kurumi.

Earlier this month, zookeepers put Tsuyoshi under anesthesia to get to the bottom of the matter. That's when they made their discovery: Tsuyoshi is a female.

Still, the Kushiro zoo plans to keep Tsuyoshi because he -- or rather, she -- has become immensely popular with visitors.

"I have rather mixed feelings, given the need for breeding, but Tsuyoshi is an idol for Kushiro," Yoshio Yamaguchi, head of the Kushiro zoo, told Japan's Kyodo news agency.

Tsuyoshi will even keep her name.

"We will not be changing it to 'Tsuyoko' since it is loved by citizens (by the current name)," Yamaguchi said.

"Ko" is a common suffix for a Japanese female name.

Meanwhile, Tsuyoshi's "brother," who was adopted by another zoo, has also turned out to be female, Kyodo

Something moronic, but funny.

This is for the girls who haven't already seen it, especially Dawn, Diane, and Theresa!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pt9lErsLafw

Some people are just idiots!!!!

We're almost there!

We have almost reached the end of our Time without Steve (TWOS). I want to get it out there on the Blog that we need to start planning our soon-to-be TWS! (You can figure that one out for yourselves.) Would Thanksgiving weekend be too soon? And where? And will he even be available? Or will he OD on Triptophan (sp?) and sleep away the weekend? Or will the reversal of his toilet flush cause him too much consternation to play? So many questions. . . . absolutely no answers. But I just had to get it out there!

I mss you all!!!!!
xx Marianne

Thank You Nan

Hello Nan --

This is terrific ! I once tried to google up Cruise Reviews or Cruise Critics or whatever, to find some positive feedback on me. Never found anything.

So I’ve never seen this stuff before, and it’s very gratifying. Also, I can use it in future promos for myself.

Maybe not the photo. It’s a fine picture of a gin&tonic, but that’s about it.

Thanks so much for this Nan. See you soon.

Views of Steve

Hi folks -- I won a cruise (a soaps cruise for 2 out of Miami in January) that I will be doing with my daughter who conveniently lives in Miami Beach, so I have been doing research on cruising -- I've never been on one.
After checking out my own ship, the Celebrity Century, I moved on to see if I could find some mention of our favorite bar pianist, and lo and behold, here they are. I did not have to delete any negative posts because there weren't any. And you can see that criticism is there if warranted.
So here are some reviews from those that are taking our place now that he is gone.
Nance

Carolyn wrote
I enjoyed the nights at the Piano Bar, which I had never frequented before. Our host was Stephen Lynch who made everyone feel at home, remembered everyone's name, and knew every song (music and words) that anyone had ever known. It was a interesting and a great way to develop relationships with other passengers. Thanks Steve.

somebody else wrote...
Nov 22 - Cabo San Lucas - Thanksgiving Day
I forgot to tell you that last evening we also went back to the Piano Bar to have an evening cordial. Steve really tries to get everyone involved. Every evening from 9:30 - 10:30 he has a Name That Tune Contest. People are divided into groups of 4. The group that gets the most number of songs correct wins a free round of drinks

Posted by Krazy Kruizers
That is because Steve Lynch is at the Piano Bar!!
He was on our 23 day Ryndam cruise -- he is great!!

sail7seas said
He does seem popular but not all entertainment on Maasdam would be called 'great'.
-------------
dvdfreakmc aka Peter, w/ Susan, Cameron and Werin wrote:
The band on board was great and the Crow's Nest we enjoyed, and we can't say enough about the piano bar and Steve, so we had a great time, but for a guy and gal whom regularly enjoy seeing broadway shows we found the main lounge entertainment disappointing.
...then moved to the Piano Bar with Steve for Sing along 30s, 40s, 50s, and 60s songs. What fun. There were already "regulars" there, so we joined in, and closed down the Piano Bar every night after that. So much fun and something that we haven't found at home.
...then heading out to sing our hearts out with Steve at the Piano Bar. It went like this for the rest of the cruise, with locations for eating mixing it up a bit.

Steve himself and his groupies (taking our place). Hopefully you can see the picture larger or go to http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=49079&l=813d4&id=648466808 and check out the last two pix.


________________
Many Cruises wrote
The entertainment on the ship was wonderful. The singers and dancers were probably the best group of young talent that we have ever seen on a cruise. In the Rembrandt Theater, they had a great Australian singer named Annie Frances & also Danny Storts (comedian) who we thought was very funny. There was also another comedian, Jeff Bradley, who was a little too corny for our tastes. We did go to all the lounges and enjoyed the entertainment there too. The Ocean Bar had Christopher at the Piano (show tunes) and a group called Deep Blue (Latin & Popular Music)...they were both fantastic! The Explorer's Lounge had the Palmira Strings (classical music) and the Piano Bar had Steve Lynch (sing-a-longs). They were all very good. All in all, the Maasdam had a great group of entertainers during our cruise!

reading material for the week-end

I realize that this site is hardly the right venue for this kind of thing.

Nevertheless hopefully you will want to accept this as a humble offer, not an arrogant imposition.

Should these words facilitate a modicum of introspection or open a dialogue with a person you respect or love, I will have accomplished my goal.

If not I apologize for having wasted your time and this cyber-space.
Peace.


Letter to my Landlady

There are people who believe that those who, like me, live in this great and wonderful project, but were not born in it, should just count their blessings, keep their nose to the grindstone, pay the rent, and shut up.
If this happens to be your conviction, please read no further.

I have truly learned to like, even love, what I have seen of this fifty units co-op complex; and a great many of its inhabitants. More than forty years ago I fell in love almost at first sight with the vast natural beauty, freedoms and bounties of this large community; but my affection for its people has been more of an acquired taste. Yet, with time, I have come to understand that, without its occupants, this would be just another of the many beautiful, yet often inhospitable or sterile parcels of real estate found around our planet.

It is because of its people that the concept of the United States of America came into existence.
It evolved and survives to this day because, and sometime despite, of all of those who live in this land, be they denizens by natural birthright or cultural inheritance, descendants of freemen, first generation lien holders, long-term tenants like myself, or even transients and squatters.

Arguably America is still the best, brightest and most efficient actualization and expression of democracy since the introduction of that experiment to the human race less than three millennia ago in Greece.

Yet some people earnestly fear that Americans, possibly without realizing it, could squander this hard earned, priceless achievement as easily and even more rapidly than they have depleted many of the natural resources bestowed upon them.
I too share this fear.

Particularly in the last few years and (inexplicably to me) at a time when calm, harmony and common sense would have so well served the Country, it has been impossible to ignore the increasing manifestations of domestic polarization, animosity and intolerance.

Lest our then justified individual and collective fears and anxieties be quelled by calls for calm and unity of purpose, they were instead actively fomented, manipulated and exploited by unscrupulous and/or dimwitted leaders, organizations and individuals. At all levels of politics and in most of the media, earnest, thoughtful debate has long since degenerated into a quagmire of shallow ideological cesspools in which mercenary “experts” fight against wannabe “pundits”, over often fabricated non-issues with less elegance and actual topical knowledge than that found among mud wrestling contestants.
Particularly in the case of that most popularly venerated instrument of current knowledge, television, the attention and understanding required of the audience by most reporting, commentaries and info-bytes is far less than that required by the commercials.

Most attempts to criticize, question, offer an alternate perspective or simply understand better an opposing point of view or opinion are likely to be instantly labeled and classified as unpatriotic, treasonous, seditious, reactionary, arrogant, pretentious, elitist, communist or fascist.
More and more frequently we succumb to the natural tendency to perceive things as black or white, right or wrong, friendly or inimical and using outdated, inaccurate, simplistic labels.
In today’s world, mostly because of the advances in technology, education and knowledge, the already many shades of gray are increasing at exponential speed. Paradoxically, the difference between fact and fiction, perception and reality, even good and evil are becoming harder to discern and define as time goes by.
It is as if, unwilling or unable to face and answer the challenges created by our own progress, many of us, perhaps unwittingly at first, revert to tribal behavior and to reactions seemingly driven more by animal instinct than by our supposedly superior intellect.
Is this undesirable behavioral trend neutralized or exacerbated by the surrounding vast desert of indifference, apathy, ignorance and intellectual laziness? Surely this question could be in itself reason for controversy and debate. Possibly the tumbleweeds that always allow themselves to be blown in the direction of the prevailing winds are utterly inconsequential, in the greater scheme of things.

Be as it may, I fear that “We the people” is more than ever in danger of becoming a chaotic, virulent mob of “I” and “Us” versus the often ill defined and always evanescent “Them”.

I know that many of you believe that such a catastrophic eventuality is unthinkable in America.
Probably and hopefully you are right.
Allow me, however, two questions. - How many of you would have believed, only five or ten years ago, that the global financial world would come as close to collapsing as it recently did?
And: - do you think it is possible that, among the many contributing factors, a significant one could be the excessive greed, ambition and dishonesty of a few, compounded with the indifference, apathy, ignorance and intellectual laziness of the many?
We are yet to fully understand to which extent and for how long this “unforeseeable” event will affect all of us. However, there seems to be an almost universal agreement that these events came fearfully close to disproving the theory that supposes a species will never act against its own instinct of self-preservation.

It is because of these serious apprehensions that I respectfully ask, humbly beg, strongly suggest, vehemently exhort or fervently hope (you choose the form that best fits our relation) that we pay much closer attention to the reactions and the emotions following November 4th than we did to those that preceded it. Beginning first and foremost with our own.
If it is true that we cannot be held accountable for all the events in our life, it is equally true that we are responsible for how we react to them.

And so, perhaps we may want to worry less about which candidate will win on November 4th.
Fortunately, and the regardless of the promises, the future of this Country is still not solely in the hands of one man.
Hopefully that is not what some of us secretly yearn for.

To my beloved Landlady, America:

“Beware the Nones of November.” (*)

Peace.

Gianni M.Lovato
Huntington, NY
October 30, 2008


(*) fifth day of November in the Roman calendar. (Plagiarized without W. Shakespeare's permission)

Irish Coffee Pub

And a good time was had by all...

... a little mid-week frolicking at the Irish Coffee Pub in East Islip.

Booker, the local piano man, is an old acquaintance of Steve, soooo: no we didn't feel like we were cuckolding him.

Lots of reminiscing, some humming, a few attempts at chords, but mostly it was an excuse to get together with Bobby Foerscht and Bill McConnell, whom we hadn't seen in a while.

They said hello to all Swagettes and Swagoonies and, as you can see for yourselves, they look terrific. I wish I knew what their secret for staying young is, don't you?