,

It practically gallops!

Irrelephant Conclusion

One of the little sidebar stories surrounding the arrival of “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” in Knoxville concerned a helicopter. The show had to briefly suspend filming on Tuesday because of the noise from a helicopter overhead. One of the local newscasts showed the distinctive black and yellow markings of Scenic Helicopter Tours. I had no idea that the passenger inside would turn out to be Taz Cable of SMOMOtv.

Like many people in Knoxville, my wife was impressed by the family chosen to receive a new house. One of Daniel and Mandy Watson’s adopted children was rescued from Ethiopia.

A media advisory on Tuesday night said that the “Extreme Makeover” crew would be shooting a segment with Jenny McCarthy at the Knoxville Zoo on Wednesday. Why shoot a segment at the zoo? My wife and I speculated that they wanted to visit someplace in Knoxville that appealed to families and had a connection to the Watsons. I predicted that they would come back with a painting made by one of the African elephants.

The awful weather caused a change in plans. Instead of visiting the zoo, Jenny was on the green-screen stage at HP Video. They shot the zoo segment on Thursday with designer Paul DiMeo instead of Jenny. As predicted, he got a piece of elephant art.

January 13, 2012 | Filed Under Uncategorized | 2 Comments 

Three King Circus

St. Mark Church in Vienna, Virginia, celebrates the Epiphany by having parishioners display their nativity scenes in the Activities Center. The annual Crèche Exhibit is a nice tradition that I would enjoy seeing catch on at more places.

Our Lady of the Snows - Nativity scene elephants in gift shop Before Christmas, my family visited the Way of Lights at the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows in Belleville, Illinois. The gift shop sold nativity figurines, including two animals I hadn’t seen in that context before: horses and elephants. The Bible doesn’t say how many Magi visited Jesus and it certainly doesn’t mention their mode of transportation. It made me wonder, are elephants mentioned anywhere in the Bible? Yes, in the second book of Maccabees, elephants are used by warriors in chapters 11, 13 and 14.

January 6, 2012 | Filed Under Catholic | Comments Off 

Band Boosting

At the end of yesterday’s blog post, I was looking online for additional video from the Rose Parade. One thing I found was an explanation for something that happened during the KTLA telecast. I could tell Bob Eubanks was stretching to fill time before RFD-TV’s Roy Rogers float arrived but I didn’t know why. Their cameras showed many of the 100 Palominos accompanying the float but didn’t show one of the horses throwing its rider. Somebody spotted it on NBC and posted the video to YouTube.

You can watch KTLA’s complete coverage in eight parts online. You can also watch video of each of the marching bands, taken somewhere else along the route. During the telecast, KTLA showed the Kyoto Tachibana High School Band playing “Sing Sing Sing.” The additional web video shows the band playing “Bad Romance.” Here’s their whole performance at the 32nd Annual Pasadena Tournament of Roses Bandfest.

Here they are during the parade, playing a Disney medley that included “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious,” “Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo” and the theme from the Main Street Electrical Parade.

Speaking of Disney, I would have loved to have been visiting Disneyland last Thursday night when the Kyoto Tachibana Senior High School Green Band marched down Main Street USA.

I was also impressed with the Crestview High School Big Red Machine, which played the James Bond theme in the Rose Parade. During the Bandfest, they did a medley of several well-known songs from James Bond movies.

January 3, 2012 | Filed Under Uncategorized | Comments Off 

Mouseketeers

Dog gets put in a box at rehearsal for Oak Ridge Civic Ballet Association's 2011 production of "The Nutcracker" Fight scene rehearsal for Oak Ridge Civic Ballet Association's 2011 production of "The Nutcracker" They use a real dog in the Oak Ridge Civic Ballet Association’s production of “The Nutcracker.” Herr Drosselmeyer gives it to Frau Stahlbaum as a Christmas gift before he gives Clara the nutcracker. The mice are not real. They are played by costumed children, some as young as four. Wednesday’s full-cast rehearsal was my first opportunity to see the little ones run out through the fireplace and grandfather clock. On Thursday and Friday we have dress rehearsals with the UT Chamber Orchestra.

I have a small role as a governor-general who can’t handle his liquor. The drinking bit is not included in the shortened “encore” show on Saturday morning. If you want to see my drunken pratfall, you’ll have to come on Saturday night or Sunday afternoon.

November 17, 2011 | Filed Under Uncategorized | 1 Comment 

Dialog Box

Box turtles have been my favorite reptiles since I was a boy. They were plentiful in the woods around my grandparents’ home in Noyac, New York. I’m happy that there are box turtles in my suburban Knoxville neighborhood. In fact, Tennessee and North Carolina honor the eastern box turtle as their official state reptile.

I had hoped that WATE’s sweeps-month story about exotic animals would have more about turtles. The story spent more time on snakes and birds but did mention that it is illegal to own box turtles because of the risk of salmonella. Fortunately, my critter-filled back yard gives me a chance to see plenty of animals without having the responsibility of owning them.

The TWRA website says: “In Tennessee, no one is allowed to keep any animal as a pet taken from the wild, which to many people’s surprise includes tadpoles, frogs, lizards, snakes, turtles, baby birds, squirrels, raccoons, and young deer.”

If you do encounter a turtle on the road, the East Tennessee Wildlife Rehabilitation Council website has advice: “Is the turtle crossing, or about to cross, a busy roadway?  If safe for you to do so, place the animal on the side of the road in the direction it was heading.  Turtles will only turn around and re-cross the road if you place them on the side they were leaving!”

November 9, 2011 | Filed Under Uncategorized | Comments Off 

TDOn’T

Traffic standstill on I-40 on November 6, 2011 A small sign on the road warned that the right lane would be closed ahead. It was wrong. In fact, all lanes of Interstate 40 were closed for an hour Sunday morning, near the Alcoa Highway interchange. Additional closings occurred throughout the day as utility crews worked on power lines above the two highways.

Traffic standstill on I-40 on November 6, 2011 I was attempting to make my way to Chilhowee Park. My friend Sandy Weaver was going to give me a tour of the Great Smoky Mountain Cluster of Dog Shows. I never got there. Instead, I made conversation with the other drivers stuck on I-40. The lady in the car behind me was trying to get to a 10:45 service at a church near James White Parkway. She said she would turn around and go back home once traffic started moving. The lady in front of me was headed to Jonesborough to visit a sick relative.

The stopped cars, many with doors open, reminded me of “The Walking Dead.” The zombie apocalypse series has several scenes of abandoned cars along Atlanta’s highways.

November 7, 2011 | Filed Under Uncategorized | Comments Off 

Hold That Tiger

In the aftermath of the Ohio private zoo tragedy, Josh Ault of WATE did a report on how Tiger Haven in Roane County has taken precautions against an animal escape. Similarly, Ben Tracy of CBS News did a feature on Wildlife Waystation in the Angeles National Forest, where many former exotic pets can live out their lives comfortably. Seeing Martine Colette on the news reminded me of the many times she visited KLOS to promote various fundraisers for the sanctuary.

One day Pam Baker and I decided that we needed some tigers for a photo shoot, which prompted us to call Martine Colette. We had persuaded Mark & Brian to dress as Siegfried & Roy and to pose with the big cats. Martine, of course, knew better. She strongly suggested that the tigers and deejays be photographed separately. We could combine the images later.

At the time, ABC’s West Coast offices were in Century City. Because we were required to use a network photographer for the publicity shoot, we arranged to meet Martine and the tigers there. The tigers relaxed on the grass just outside the network photo studio until we were ready for them. Martine and her associate posed them in front of a green screen for us. After the cats went back outside, Mark & Brian stood in the same spot and posed as if they were straddling the tigers. I would love to see those pictures again but I don’t know who has them.

October 25, 2011 | Filed Under Uncategorized | 2 Comments 

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