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Wednesday, April 09, 2008
A Penny's Worth:
The Good News
A YOUTUBE-ISH WEDNESDAY. It seems the big new fad of the moment is YouTube clips of girls fighting. We're not going to link that crap here. What you may not know, though, is that there also seems to be a building trend for people making Greyhound Music Videos. The production values vary, but they're all more fun to watch than that other fad. The video above is "Daisy the Greyhound," and here are some others: "Bandit Dreaming," "Born to Run," "Run Cecil Run," and "Harvey the Lurcher & Glen the Greyhound." (If you want to see what they look like going flat out in a straight line without the music, go here. It's stunning.)
Of course, we can't mention greyhounds without doing our bit for rescue. "Running for Their Lives" is a short vid about the thousands of dogs who need homes after their lives at the racetrack. It's British, but still informative. We have the same problems here. The good news is that there are many active rescue organizations doing a good job of placing greys. But there are always more new dogs. End of commercial.
We've got a few more feel-good stories for you, too. So take a break from Hillary-Obama, the congressional hearings on Iraq, and the Chinese Olympic mess. Take a look at this picture:
Freedom and friend.
There's a nice story that goes with it. Jeff Guidry works at the Sarvey Wildlife Center near Seattle. About four years ago, the Center received a bald eagle fledgling that had fallen out its nest and suffered two broken wings. Guidry explains what happened subsequently here.
At five weeks we are approaching the
end.
Sarvey Wildlife Center believes in giving every soul that comes in a chance to live; but when it is painfully clear that death is the only way out, the decision is made to let that particular spirit continue on its journey. We were at this juncture; this beautiful baby eagle was given one week to see if she could, or would, stand up. This was a crushing blow. Every day that next week I checked to see if she was up. The answer was always the same... "No."
Sarvey Wildlife Center believes in giving every soul that comes in a chance to live; but when it is painfully clear that death is the only way out, the decision is made to let that particular spirit continue on its journey. We were at this juncture; this beautiful baby eagle was given one week to see if she could, or would, stand up. This was a crushing blow. Every day that next week I checked to see if she was up. The answer was always the same... "No."
You can guess part of what happened but not all of it. Read the link above and then take a look here..
Our next item is quite a puzzler. It concerns a young woman who received, at death's door, a heart-and-lung transplant from a young male donor (above) she was obviously told almost nothing else about. Her experiences after that were remarkable enough that she felt obliged to write a book about them. You can read the short version here and draw your own conclusions.
By now you've probably figured out that most of our "good news" isn't all quite new. But that's the way of things and why screaming headlines are usually screaming about something bad. Some stories just take a very long time to develop and the end result doesn't make the front page of the New York Times. I discovered the long-developing tale of 'Charlie Brown' at the Snopes.com website, which routinely researches viral Internet legends that usually turn out to be all or mostly false. In this case the legend went all the way back to World War II, where Charlie Brown was supposedly the pilot of a very badly damaged B-17 trying to limp back to England from Germany with half the crew dead and no remaining ability to defend itself. According to viral versions of the story, a German fighter pilot was ordered up to finish the bomber off but instead escorted it back to the channel, saluted, and flew away.
Well, this time the legend is true, and there was a second chapter many years later. Chivalry may be dead, but not quite all the chevaliers.
Another story of dire mechanical urgency actually did make headlines this week. It happened in Cleveland. A bus full of children began rolling out of a gas station down an adjacent street toward inevitable collision. Fortunately, there was someone on board who knew what to do.
The 11-year-old Cleveland boy who
steered a runaway school bus to safety said Wednesday he took the wheel
because the bus was rolling toward a semi.
David Murphy told on ABC's "Good Morning America" other children on board during Monday's crash were "freaking out," screaming and hollering, and he decided he had to do something.
"I took the wheel and had to turn the wheel on the sidewalk," he said.
His mother said she was amazed.
"When I saw the precision of the bus, it seemed like it was parked," Patricia Murphy said during the program. "I couldn't believe it and that he had that strength and that direction."
David Murphy told on ABC's "Good Morning America" other children on board during Monday's crash were "freaking out," screaming and hollering, and he decided he had to do something.
"I took the wheel and had to turn the wheel on the sidewalk," he said.
His mother said she was amazed.
"When I saw the precision of the bus, it seemed like it was parked," Patricia Murphy said during the program. "I couldn't believe it and that he had that strength and that direction."
Read the whole thing. For awhile there, he thought he was going to get into trouble.
Our final item takes us all the way to the other end of the age spectrum. It's about a rock and roll choral group consisting entirely of very senior citizens. They're having a blast. Here's the background. And here's one of their music videos.
That should put a smile on your face for a few hours.
