Special Request Tuesday

A faithful reader contacted me with a special request. As always, I will bend over backwards to accommodate my faithful readers, so I didn't hesitate to start researching the topic. The faithful reader posed a very interesting question: had I ever heard about people feeding raw meat to their dogs. They went on to explain that they knew someone who fed their dogs raw chicken and other raw meats. As soon as I heard the words "raw chicken" I have to confess I felt the warm water start coming up in the back of my throat. As soon as I had the chance, I did some research and here's what I've found on the topic of Raw Feeding.

Wikipedia tells us that raw feeding is "the practice of feeding domestic dogs and cats a diet of primarily uncooked meat, edible bones, and organs." Once again, I feel the warm water starting to come back again. At first I thought this was just crazy talk, but the more I read about it, I have to admit that it didn't sound as crazy as I first thought. Supporters of raw feeding believe that the natural diet of an animal in the wild has evolved to consume what it is most adapted to. They try to mimic a similar diet for their domestic animals. It makes total sense to me -- animals have been around for thousands and thousands of years, and wayyyy back in the day they only had raw meat to eat; people back in the days of the Bible didn't have Purina or Iams food to feed their animals, and those animals were fine enough to reproduce and keep their species alive.

Raw feeding supporters also believe that a balanced raw diet gives the animal a healthier coat, cleaner teeth and breath, reduced stool volume and odor, and better overall health. They are usually opposed to commercial pet foods, which they believe is detrimental to an animal's health. They believe that dogs lack the necessary enzymes to digest grains and plant material, causing bacteria to form on the teeth, in the mouth, intestines and bowel. Opponents of raw feeding believe that the risk of nutritional imbalance, intestine problems and food borne illnesses posed by the handling and feeding of raw meat and bones would outweigh the benefits. Veterinary associations worldwide have warned of the animal and public health risk that could arise from feeding raw meat to pets and have stated there is no scientific evidence to support the claimed benefits of raw feeding.

I don't have a dog, but if I did, there is no way in blue heaven I would feed my dog a raw chicken, or any other raw meat for that matter. I would not feed my dog something that I would not eat myself. For the reecord, let me say that as a kid, I have tasted canned and dry dog food on a dare, and it didn't kill me. Even kids have sense enough not to dare someone to risk their life by eating raw chicken.

Link Of The Week Special Request

A co-worker emailed me this link earlier today, and I told her that I would post it in TWIT, knowing that my faithful readers would be happy to help out.

The fine folks at Henkel (the makers of Right Guard, Dial, Purex, Soft and Dry and a host of other products, are having a contest among schools in the U.S. - the school who receives the most votes will win $25,000. We are very happy to report that J.B. Atkinson Elementary School from Louisville is one of the ten finalists. As of this morning they were in third place. We have until October 19 to vote. Take a moment and visit http://www.henkelhelps.com and click on the "next" arrow until you see "J.B. Atkinson Elementary" in the larger box just to the left of the "next" arrow. Click on the picture of Atkinson and then you can enter your email address to register your vote.

Thanks in advance, and please take a moment to copy and paste this info into an email and send it to everyone in your address book. Let's do our part to help a local Louisville school win.

Link Of The Week

In case you've been hiding under a rock and haven't heard any news or read any newspapers or magazines lately, October is breast cancer awareness month. This is a repeat Link Of The Week, but it bears repeating, and as long as there is a TWIT, you can count on me giving a link to this site every October. Visit http://www.thebreastcancersite.com/clickToGive/home.faces?siteId=2 and take the 6th Annual Pink Ribbon Challenge. Just click the big pink "Click here to give" button and your click will be counted. Your click will give mammograms to women who cannot afford them. So please put the site in your favorites and click on it every day.

Farewell, Eileen Herlie

TWIT is very sad to report that soap opera actress Eileen Herlie has died. The soap legend was 90 years old, and died on Thursday from pneumonia. Eileen played one of the most beloved characters on "All My Children", the motherly Myrtle Fargate, for over three decades. Eileen joined the soap in 1976, and became a surrogate mother for my beloved Erica Kane.

Herlie was born and raised in Glasgow, Scotland, and worked for several years in the Scottish National Theater and in the English theater. Among the hit London plays she appeared in was Jean Cocteau's "The Eagle Has Two Heads." Her movie credits include two filmings of "Hamlet," the Richard Burton version and the 1948 Laurence Olivier production, in which she also played Gertrude. Her other movies include "Freud" (1962) with Montgomery Clift and Sidney Lumet's "The Sea Gull" (1968) with Simone Signoret, James Mason and Vanessa Redgrave. Before joining "All My Children," Herlie was a regular on Broadway. She made her debut in Thornton Wilder's "The Matchmaker" in 1955, playing milliner Irene Molloy in the comedy, which starred Ruth Gordon as Dolly Gallagher Levi.

Herlie's AMC character Myrtle ran a boarding house in the fictional Pine Valley, and was always there to dispense her wisdom to Erica and other characters who sought her guidance. In fact, Myrtle was just about the only person who would not hesitate to put Erica Kane in her place, all the while Erica would take what Myrtle would dish out and leave Myrtle with a smile. An eery coincidence surrounds Eileen Herlie's death this week: rumor has it that her character Myrtle is going to be killed off on AMC next week when tornadoes hit Pine Valley.

Myrtle was one of my favorite characters on AMC, even though she didn't get much air time. In fact the last time her character appeared was back in June. She loved Erica Kane and her family unconditionally, and was a very classy lady on the soap. One of my favorite things about her character was when they showed her at her boarding house, she would offer her guests spiked lemonade. Of course, she'd have a glass with them.

You will surely be missed, Eileen. The show will not be the same without you. My beloved Susan Lucci said it best; "I'm sure Eileen is lighting up the sky's in heaven with her flaming red hair and lovely Scottish accent," Lucci said. "The earth's loss is heaven's gain!"

Flashback Friday

You might not know this, but my official job description title at work is Production and Inventory Coordinator. Sounds impressive, doesn't it? Basically it means that I tell the factory what to build and when to build it. The life of production scheduling isn't very glamorous, but I can say it's never boring. The one constant about my job is change - we are constantly changing our schedules. I write my schedules in pencil and I use the highest pound paper I can find because I have to erase so much. At times I sure wish I had a Magic Slate to use.

I'm sure you remember the Magic Slate, and most likely had one. The slate was actually hard cardboad with a black waxy surface. On top of the black wax was a clear or sometimes light gray sheet of plastic. You'd write on the slate with a little plastic stylus and when you wanted to erase, you'd just lift the plastic sheet and clear it all. I was pretty hard on Magic Slates as a kid. I would either bear down too hard when I wrote or drew on it and would end up leaving deep gouges in the black wax. And if that didn't happen, I'd usually tear the plastic sheet as I was lifting it to erase.

You don't see many Magic Slates in the stores today; electronics and the very popular white dry erase boards have replaced them. But I sure wish I had a gigantic Magic Slate at work to use for my schedules. It would make erasing a hell of a lot easier.

An Omen At The Compound

We believe that a miracle occurred tonight at The Compound during supper. While Mom was frying some chicken tenders, she noticed that one of the pieces of chicken looked just like a horse's head. She yelled for me to bring the camera, saying that she had something for me to take a picture of for my journal. Imagine my surprise when I did in deed find the chicken tender very journal worthy.

Some may call it a miracle or a coincidence - I call it an omen. It just so happens that yesterday, Churchill Downs announced that the Breeder's Cup would be back here in 2010. Yep, an omen deed.

Unfortunately, we won't be able to put the Churchill Downs Breeder's Cup horse head on eBay and make thousands of dollars from the sale of it because Dad ate it at supper. Oh well. At least Mom and I thought it was cool.

I'm Moving

It's taken awhile to get the details and kinks ironed out, but today marks day one of TWIT's big move. Starting November 1, TWIT will be found at its new home at http://puddin-thatswhatimthinking.blogspot.com. (Note: Of course, if you're reading this at Blogspot, then you already know that I've moved. Now back to the original post.) All of the content will be the same, and thanks to Blogspot and the blogging gods, every single post from the past 4+ years copied over succesfully. But I did lose some pictures that have been posted - about half, to be exact. So for the rest of October, I'm going to be spending every spare moment going back into TWIT at AOL and will copy the pictures and repost them. Let's be real - I don't know if I could stand it without the picture of the Nun Bun or of the Miracle At Gate 4 at TWIT's new home.