Dogged Blog

It ' s the dogs, stupid

From the scrappy folks at Bad Rap, probably the best commentary I've read yet on the Vick dogfighting case. Instead of the pious mouthings Gina already blogged about how bad dog fighting is, they have harsh words for just about everyone involved in this matter (including those seeking donations to "care" for the seized pit bulls), and a reminder of who is really suffering: The dogs.

The sports world has not been kind to pit bulls, starting with this 1987 cover. Numerous sports figures have since been linked to dog fighting, and even the tennis show moguls (Nike) found a way to exploit the dogs and make a buck off of graphic fight imagery. Why treat them kindly when they're really werewolves? ....And, here we are today, reading about the unspeakable torture of mans' best friend.



We don't need to detail how horrific the crime of dogfighting is. There's enough gore spinning around the Net to cover that angle.



But, we do need to remember -- the dogs. Where are the dogs in all this?



We started wondering when the HSUS put out a public plea for funds "to care for the dogs seized in the Michael Vick case." We're not sure how the word 'care' is being defined ... toys and treats? kuanda beds? staff help for yard exercise? (doubtful)... although it's certain the dogs will be destroyed in due time. The org has been staunchly opposed to re-homing abused pit bulls and will dutifully insist that each and every fight bust dog is damaged and dangerous.



We know that's not altogether true.



We have dogs like Amy, Hiro, BB, Sadie, Lil'Bit, Pearl, Doe Koo, and even Little Man - all from fight backgrounds - to remind us that the soundest of dogs really can and do rise above the harshest of beginnings. Even more astounding, many somehow survive the torture and starvation with their adoration for humans still intact. Talk about optimists. I can't fathom how this breed can possibly trust despite having seen the worst side of humanity, but they just keep surprising us.



Pity the Vick dogs. Had they somehow washed up out of their pens in the storms of Katrina, they would've been made into media darlings. Volunteers would've rushed to bathe and comfort them (many quite wonderful Katrina pit bulls came with fight scars from pre-storm misadventures). Some might've ended up in shelters willing to temperament test and offer the best for adoption. But no such luck -- they were doubly cursed when they were sold into that VA hellhole.

Thanks to Serijna in the comments for sharing this link... lots more here.



Update from Gina: Over on Lassie Get Help, Luisa adds good stuff to the discussion, including giving HSUS a rap on the nose for using the Vick situation to raise money. And this is the great line of the day (emphasis mine).:

[...D]onations have swamped the Humane Society of the United States, a powerful lobbying group that runs no shelters or rescues and is not affiliated with your local humane society, yet appears, Zelig-like, in most major news stories about rescued animals.

Well ... they do some other things.  As a guest of the HSUS and Denver Dumb Friends League a few years ago, I spent two weeks learning the best ways to help adopters work through behavior problems with their new pets. Two of the best weeks I've spent anywhere, and took away a lot from the program -- as did all the others in my class, who were all shelter workers.



But still, Luisa's point is well-taken. HSUS isn't in this business of running shelters, much less one for former fighting dogs. But they'll take donations, anyway.

Nike to Vick: Let ' s NOT just do it

Sports Illustrated is reporting that Nike is suspending the release on a product line named after Atlanta Falcon's quarterback Michael Vick:

Nike has told retailers it will not release a fifth signature shoe, the Air Zoom Vick V, this summer. Nike spokesman Dean Stoyer said the four shoe products and three shirts that currently bear Vick's name will remain in stores.



Vick will be arraigned next week in a Richmond, Va., federal courtroom on charges of sponsoring a gruesome dogfighting operation.



[....]



Stoyer said Nike still has a standing contract with Vick, but declined to speculate on his future with the company.



A statement released by Nike Inc. said the company "is concerned by the serious and highly disturbing allegations made against Michael Vick, and we consider any cruelty to animals inhumane and abhorrent. We do believe that Michael Vick should be afforded the same due process as any citizen; therefore, we have not terminated our relationship."

HSUS is calling for Nike to cancel its contract with Vick and for the NFL to suspend him, but SI says Falcons owner Arthur Blank issued this statement:

"This is an emotionally charged and complicated matter," Blank said. "There are a wide range of interests and legal issues that need to be carefully considered as we move ahead, including our need to respect the due process that Michael is entitled to. Also, this situation affects everyone -- our club, our players and associates, our sponsors, our fans and the Atlanta community among them -- so we must consider all of our customers in making any decisions.



"Given the differing perspectives and strong feelings around this issue, we probably won't make everyone happy, but we are committed to doing the right thing. As the owner of this club that's, ultimately, my responsibility."



Blank added that he was "saddened and distressed about this -- not for myself, for our fans and community who have been so loyal to us."

Full story here.

I want my lesbian detective/gay man sidekick TV series and I want it now

So, I got asked to review a movie at the San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival, and I went down and picked up the screener and popped it in the DVD player last month.

And then I sat there and went, how did someone who I have never met and in fact, hadn't even heard of, make the absolute perfect movie for me?

It's a lesbian detective with a gay man as her sidekick and she wears high heels and a has a little gun in her purse and she never, ever doesn't know what to do. I love that in a woman:

It's in a genre all its own — the lesbian/gay buddy movie gone sexed-up noir thriller — and it has a mystery at its heart. Add lots of girl-on-girl kissing and our dyke detective running around in high heels and a tight dress with a gun, and you've got 2 Minutes Later, a film by Robert Gaston (OpenCam), currently making the rounds on the LGBT film festival circuit.

I particularly loved this comment by Gaston:

"Attending GLBT film festivals with my last film, OpenCam, I kept seeing the GLBT community divided as men and women went to their separate theaters for separate experiences," he said. "It's been a goal of mine in recent projects to try to appeal and celebrate the sexuality of a cross-section of the community. I developed the characters of Abigail and Michael because I wanted to show gay men and lesbians working together, and depict a relationship I'd not see on film before."

It worked really well for me, with lots of snappy banter and terrific acting and a nice little mystery to tie it all together. And I totally want this to become a television series. I would watch it every week for the rest of ever.

Here's the full review, and that's Jessica Graham, who played Abigail, in the photo. One guess what else I liked about the movie.

And now for something completely political

Having gotten all the Lucy Lawless/George Takei fangirl media entertainment writer stuff that I'm actually paid to write about out of the way, time for a trip into the wonkish side of my world.

Those here only for the dogs and the shoes and the Xena may want to move along.

When I heard that George Takei, who played Mr. Sulu on the original Star Trek series and Lucy Lawless of Xena:Warrior Princess and Battlestar Galactica were going to be at the Human Rights Campaign's annual gala here in San Francisco, I was right there with my hand in the air to cover it for AfterElton.com/AfterEllen.com. But fangirl squeeage aside, I was equally excited to see Elizabeth Edwards (pictured, right, with HRC president Joe Solmonese) would be giving the keynote address. Political machinations aside, her statements in support of full marriage equality, as well as her forthrightness and courage regarding her political beliefs and fight against cancer, have made her one of my personal heroes.

Before the dinner started, there was a VIP reception where all the A-gays of the Bay Area -- and many straight LGBT rights supporters -- were mingling in tuxes and fancy dresses, sipping drinks from the open bar and greeting friends. Even though I'm a native San Franciscan, I only recognized a tiny number of them, including San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom -- who, like me, was born here.

I told him that I was a fourth generation native, and like all San Francisco politicians do when you tell them that, he gave me his full attention.  I thanked him for having the courage and vision and simple basic humanity to hand out same sex marriage licenses at San Francisco's City Hall, and said that I just wanted him to know that some "old time" San Franciscans are also queer San Franciscans.

We bonded for a while over our mutual San Franciscan-ness and growing up in the City and when I told him I'd gone to Mercy High, he said, "You're a Mercy girl? That's like a cult." So true. And how amusing to be called a "Mercy girl," possibly for the first time in almost 30 years.

I've already recounted just about every utterance of George Takei and Lucy Lawless, so I'll skip over that and go on to the speeches.

Given that I've practically made  a career of liveblogging in the last few months, I'd brought my laptop with me. But alas, no wi-fi was available in San Francisco's Civic Auditorium.

So I did it anyway, even if it's not exactly "live," but at least this time I've had the chance to clean up the typos and misspelled words in advance. Remember this is a report, not a transcript; only those things in quotation marks are direct quotes. Everything else is a paraphrase or summary.

A little more Lucy from the HRC gala

I'll have the political post up shortly [UPDATE: it's here], but for now, a tiny little bit more of Lucy Lawless at the Human Rights Campaign annual gala over on AfterElton.com:

It's been well established that gay men love Xena, but now we know: Xena loves you back.

At Saturday night's Human Rights Campaign awards gala in San Francisco, I told Lucy Lawless she had a lot of fans on her our website, and her face lit up. "Really? That's wonderful," she said. "I’m always counting on the women, but I love beautiful men. I love doing things with beautiful men, so I say bring it on. And bring your friends."

Read all this and more, with more photos from KT, here. Click many many times. Convince them that the demand for more Lucy journalism is a wave threatening to engulf the planet.

Photo of Lucy with HRC President Joe Solmonese by KT Jorgensen. More KT photos from the event here.

Vick indicted on dogfighting charges

Michael Vick, quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons, was was indicted today by a federal grand jury after an investigation into his involvement in illegal dogfighting:

Vick and three others were charged with violating federal laws against competitive dogfighting, procuring and training pit bulls for fighting and conducting the enterprise across state lines.

The indictment alleges that Vick and his co-defendants began sponsoring dogfighting in early 2001, the former Virginia Tech star’s rookie year with the Falcons.

Story here. No doubt much, much more to come.

This time it ' s not canine selective hearing

I have laryngitis. I've never had it before, but I've got it now, and let me tell you, I had no idea how much I relied on my larynx until it stopped working. Not just for mundane things like, you know, answering the phone, but to communicate with my dogs, and even to keep them safe.







Since moving back to the city last fall after 16 years in the country, I've taken to leash walking my dogs three times a day in the big park across the street from our house. We've developed our little routines and habits, and I keep them moving and not snatching illicit snacks deposited by careless picnickers, nor stepping into the path of oncoming cyclists, and a million other little things I want them to do like "Come," "Wait," or go "This way" by using... you guessed it... my voice.



Which currently I don't have one of.



It's not that tugging on their leashes is totally ineffective as a method of getting their attention. It's just that, well, they really don't understand why I've gotten so quiet all of a sudden. And they can't always figure out what I'm asking them to do. At least, that's their story and they're sticking to it.



It does remind me of when my Chow/Aussie mix Colleen lost her hearing in old age. We still lived in the country and I was able to take her on very long walks without needing to give her any commands, but there were many times I wished I could get her attention when her back was to me while we were out. Still, we got along just fine.



One afternoon we were out on the back deck, and I smiled at her and remembered that, more than a dozen years before, we'd learned hand signals in obedience class. I walked a little ways down the deck, turned to face her, and used the hand signal for "Come."



Colleen's plumed tail flew up into the air, her tipped ears perked, and she bounded over to me with the speed and grace of a much younger dog, plunked her butt down on the ground in front of me, and sat there, four-square and beaming with joy.



I immediately burst into tears, dropped to my knees, and promised never, ever to stop speaking to her again. I brought out every single hand gesture we'd ever learned, and she still knew them all. Even the ones I'd forgotten, and had to look up on the web.



So tonight when I take Kyrie and Rebel for their final turn around the park, I'll tug on their leashes, and smile and pet them, and be thankful that my voice should be back in a few days. And then I think I'll teach them a few hand signals.

HRC gala in San Francisco

So, last Saturday night I was chatting with San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom... and thus starts my utterly name-dropping post about last night's annual awards gala for the Human Rights Campaign in San Francisco, where actor George Takei (Star Trek, Heroes) recieved HRC's Equality Award, Elizabeth Edwards delivered the keynote address, HRC's Joe Solmonese delivered a stirring defense of LGBT rights, and Lucy Lawless (Xena: Warrior Princess, Battlestar Galactica) was the world's most glamorous charity auctioneer.

I was covering it for AfterEllen.com and AfterElton.com, so politics wasn't part of my assignment -- I was there to interview Lucy Lawless and George Takei. There was no wi-fi at the Civic Auditorium so I couldn't liveblog it, but I had my laptop and ummm, deadblogged? it, so I promise to do a political post here on Dogged about Edwards, Solmonese, Newsom, Mark Leno, and all the other hot political and social stuff.  [UPDATE: it's here.]

But in the meantime, back to the fluff. From AfterEllen.com:

I’m sure most of the reporters covering the Human Rights Campaign’s annual gala and awards dinner in San Francisco Saturday night were there for the politics, and honestly, I’m normally the very soul of queer political activism.

But that night? Let’s face it: I was there for Lucy Lawless.

Lucy was all glammed up in high heels, evening gown and tousled curls. She sailed into the pre-dinner VIP reception like an old-fashioned Hollywood star, and signed autographs and posed for pictures with adoring Xena fans both male and female.

Since she looks just as good in girly clothes as in jeans and a cowgirl hat — not to mention her Xena fighting leathers — it’s not hard to see why she made it onto the top 100 on the AfterEllen.com hot list. What did Lucy think about that? “Well that’s pretty great,” she beamed. “I love that. Thanks very much for the vote of confidence, girls, and just thanks so much for the support, and I want to be here to support you.”

Here's a photo KT took of Lucy gazing adoringly at me being interviewed by me:

From AfterElton.com:

At the reception before the awards dinner, I told Takei I’d been a huge fan of the original Star Trek series, but had always felt excluded from the show’s Utopian vision, where queers like me – and him – were invisible.

“Well, Star Trek had as its core value what we call IDIC, Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations,” he said. “And (Trek producer and creator) Gene Roddenberry always told us the diversity of the Starship Enterprise was where its strength was. There’s a diversity that we can see: the color of one’s skin, or the shape of one’s eyes. There’s the accent of a person, diversity we can hear. But there’s another diversity that we can’t see oftentimes, but that too is a part of the strength of America.”

Here's me being quite a bit taller than George Takei, and also showing you my new haircut at last:

Be sure to click madly on the AfterEllen and AfterElton links so they'll continue to let me stalk interview all my heroes. Thanks.

And thanks to KT for the photos! You can see more of them at the above links, as well as here.

Friday iPod Challenge -- DID YOU MISS IT???

It's been a while since I did my iPod challenge, which requires an iPod not at all. Just use whatever program you have for managing your music files and get it to generate a list of ten entirely random songs and tell me what they are. The key is NO CHEATING.

I took the bottom ten, not the top ten, but it's totally random:

1. Nasty Girl (Peter's Reconstruction Radio Edit)  - Inaya Day
2. She's Lost Control - Joy Division
3. After All (Radio Pollution Mix by The Passengerz) - Delerium
4. Top of the World - Dixie Chicks
5. Ambition - Doves
6. Drive-In Saturday - David Bowie
7. The Sound Of Violence (Narcotic Thrust Remix) - Cassius
8. My Oklahoma Home - Bruce Springsteen & The Sessions Band
9. Let Him Fly - Dixie Chicks
10. Stupid Girls - Pink

Now your turn! Show me something I'm not expecting.

More on the Harry Potter connection

A friend sent me this image, a deleted scene from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. The two Scottish Deerhounds pictured are Cleod (the dog who played Padfoot in the current film, who we met here), and Fife, both from Kilbourne Deerhounds in the UK. A Kilbourne hound, Fern, also served as the model for the CGI version of Padfoot in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.







For those of us not familiar with the Potterverse, and that would include me, Joy Windle of Joyous Gard Deerhounds was kind enough to summarize the scene in this image thus:

They are shown with Lucius Malfoy, dangerous minion of Lord Voldemort, the Dark Lord. They must be held against their will under a terrible spell, much like Dobie, the house elf.

That doesn't sound like a good thing to me, either, Joy!