A STRING THING

This is a picture of our cat Sammy, taken May 28th at the Deer Creek Animal Hospital outside Denver. Yes...our beloved and colorful feline decided to consume a plastic string whole and it cut up his intestines! Thanks to the quick diagnosis and the surgical skill of veterinary doctor Lauren Bockino, Sammy is now doing fine and is up to his old hijinks, although all string-like objects have been removed from our apartment and every time he chews something either myself or my wife feel compelled to scoop Sammy up in our arms and pry open his jaws just to make sure. Spending close to $3000 you don't really have to save a cat's life will make you do some pretty paranoid things.

But it was worth it, I think. While the whole episode makes me wonder what kind of parents we might turn out to be, anyone who has been blessed to have a pet knows just how much and how quickly they become a part of the family.

Awkward Segue of the Year

The United States has swallowed a harmful string in it's continued occupation of Iraq (yes, yes, I know. There are better transitions between African dictatorships. My apologies!)

It started by biting off more than we could chew by invading a country under false pretenses without global (or UN) support. Having had a bellyful of that and feeling prematurely satisfied, our national intestine begin to crimp and accordian as our occupation string begin to bind and insurgents began to pick off our troops in ever increasing numbers. As the situation has worsened, we have become filled with bile, our overall (economic) health has declined and our national mood has become generally sour. Like my cat however, we can't stay away from obsessively trying to swallow more bad strings. Iran dangles before us and we bat it at, salivating at the prospect of another "conquest", a war that can only serve to make us even weaker and has the potential to eventually cripple or even destroy us. And there is no global Dr. Bocchino waiting in the wings to rescue us and that's a thought I find truly scary.

In just such a fashion is Sammy the national body politic...and that's not just some twisty, tortured metaphor.

The 100-word Review: KNOCKED UP

My Grade: A-

Stars Katherine Heigl, Seth Rogen, Jason Segal, Paul Rudd, Leslie Mann and Jay Baruchel. Written and directed by Judd Apatow.

Rated "R"

This is the best movie I've seen so far this summer. (Of course, it's only the second movie I've seen this summer, so take that with a big grain of salt). I love a smart, funny, adult comedy and KNOCKED UP fits the bill. The only minor complaint is that at 132 minutes, it's a bit bloated. But Heigl has star quality, Rogen shows more charm and likeablity than he ever has in previous (mostly supporting) roles and Paul Rudd steals several scenes as a henpecked husband of Heigl's controlling sister. The laughs are deep and sometimes raunchy, but the ring true and deeper than you might think. Go see it!

That's all for now...coming soon, a report from our Hollywood correspondent Braydon and more cool things about my new home, Denver.

Peace...