HoundsGood: Chronicles of a Virtual Volunteer

Duke is a puppy that needs a home. He was just “born” in September, and is the perfect pet for someone who is never home, travels a lot, is allergic to dogs, or can’t afford to care for one. He loves to be rubbed and enjoys playing with slippers, but if you don’t pay attention to him for a few days, you can merely pick up where you left off. Duke the Talking Puppy is another “trip to Grandma’s house” occupier for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad ($1.99 to remove ads, or free in the iTunes store with ads).

He’s rated 4+, or roughly, suitable for children four years and older.

Like other puppy apps before him, you can play ball with him, give him bones and pet him. But this puppy also dances to disco music and talks back to you. You must have a microphone for the iPod Touch for Duke to be able to hear you, so make sure a mic is attached to your headphones, or bring him up in iTunes from your phone or iPad instead.

Duke the Talking Puppy does not teach any geometry lessons, ancient Norse folklore or how to cook a potato, but can provide entertaining distraction for the long rode to “Grandma’s House.”

Little girls at the dawn of the 20th century played with paper dolls. Throughout the century, celebrity faces and cartoon characters were transferred to the two-dimensional play thing. For one, they can keep a child quiet on a car trip when markers inevitably end up marking up the seats, an MP3 player prevents conversations with their family. It’s not all about fashion – paper dolls help a child develop fine motor skills as well as lend to a sense of “make believe.” ** They make a good donations for family shelters because of that. They are easy to pack up and take with them. **

Paper dolls, except the few directed at adults, don’t exist in the numbers they once did. Now there are a variety of flash-based games that create a similar experience with a mouse click on the internet.  While the online dolls skip some motor skills, young kids flex their decision making muscles and adults have fun creating some pretty oddball combos.  I know I did.

There’s even a Selena Gomez dress up game. You can dress Selena or Selena and Justin Bieber.  I got a kick out of the part where you choose an Oscars or shopping scenario with Justin, but then the third option is “I don’t like Justin!” and a solo Selena appears. A bit celebrity driven, but then again the young Queen Elizabeth, the original Charlie’s Angels and Martha Washington have all have had lives held at the fate of the fashion sense of small hands over the years.

It is hard to say if online paper dolls are more “green.” After all, energy is used to play them on the computer, and I do know that every paper doll my friends had were far from treated as disposable until they were beheaded by a sibling or disintegrated into nothing. Then again, there is less junk around the house if someone plays online paper dolls and loses interest versus stacks of paper and cut out books.

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of TiVo. All opinions are 100% mine.

(At left: DogTown – a show that I missed!)

For the past few Fall TV seasons, I have been so tied up that I haven’t gotten into too many shows. Midway through the season, I find out that someone I know was on an animal reality show or something or other, and I missed it! I missed the entire DogTown series, which I would have liked to see.

I never thought about getting TiVo, but now it not only will playback your favorite shows, but you can search through the fall lineups and pick up with a show even after it has started. If you want to catch up on a prior season, you can catch up on TiVo premiere with Netflix or Blockbuster on Demand, or Amazon on Demand right from your television as well. This is definitely a bonus for folks like me, as I run in 50 directions and am not free until the shows are over. By the way, you can even program in a specific person, and TiVo will look for shows and movies with your favorite actor in the cast, or someone who is profiled on shows as well.

The system has entered the age of Blackberry by introducing the new TiVo slide: a remote with a slide-out keyboard to make programming and searching so much easier. TiVo has a Facebook Fan Page where you can keep up to date on the latest features, and you can even Enter to Win in the TiVo “30 Slides in 30 Days” Sweepstakes.

The last day to enter is tomorrow, September 30th – so hurry and enter now!

What is this mysterious spectre? No, its not a Titanic-exhibit-gone-creepy.  Rather, it’s the new Ghost Ship at Morey’s Piers. Nope, no rotating midway Viking ship here, but rather an interactive haunted house. For your next volunteer amusement park “thank you” or wish granting trip for teens, there is finally something more at the park for those not of the faint of heart, but the too faint of stomach or faint neck for roller coasters.

I have a completely different travel style than my parents do.  Of course, I take my dogs along, which is different, but the pace is different too.  When I was a kid, my dad was Mr. Itinerary.  We crammed so much into a four day weekend.  In fact, I don’t know quite how we saw the highlights of four different states in a weekend once.  These weren’t New England states, either.  All I can remember is petting some horses and then being cranky and tired the rest of the time.  When I go on a trip, I build in plenty of time to rest, or to spontaneously discover a few things along the way.  It is not uncommon at the end of the night for me to end up back in my room, flipping around on the television to unwind.  I don’t watch much television, but that is one of the times when I do.  The pool usually gets ignored while I decompress.

In Hong Kong, there is a show called Professor Paws Pet Cadet, featuring the Dr. Dog program, where well mannered and well trained dogs act as ambassadors for their species, as well as animals in general. Since the SARS outbreak, and the way pets were treated, they need all the human friends that they can get.  It is supposed to be a fascinating show.   Of course, we can’t see it over here, but if I was sitting in a hotel in Hong Kong I could.   I was just sort of joking around about it, but at a party this weekend, my cousin who has traveled the world told me that Hong Kong is a great place to visit if you have never been to Asia. Of course, she speaks three languages and has traveled the world, so she can always find someone to chat with.   When I read that the Accor Hotels 3-Day Super Sale Asia Pacific was going on, she was really pushing me to go.

I still shook my head, but I did then read that I could potentially get a hotel room for less than less than what I would pay here.  There are hotel rooms available for as little as $84 a night in Hong Kong, and for as little as $30 in the other Asia Pacific localities. Where have you heard of Accor hotels before?  The own Motel 6, among many other properties.  There don’t appear to be any Motel 6 locations in Hong Kong, but the sale makes you sure think you have snagged a similar bargain at their other properties.

My cousin went on to say that if I was nervous about going to Asia because of the language barrier, and didn’t want to be insulated within a tour group, Hong Kong was definitely the place to go.   In some ways, the laws are more similar to home, and there is enough international business where if I got really lost or stuck I could probably find someone who spoke English.  Of course, I always try to learn the language of where I am at, enough to get around, but sometimes you have an unusual situation far beyond your knowledge of asking to be directed to the bathroom or airport.

Who knows.  If I go, and am lucky, maybe I can go to a taping of Dr. Dog, or to lend a hand some how.

I better hurry, because today is the last day of the sale.

Life magazine now offers an online photo gallery of some of their most famous, and some of their least seen, but intriguing images.   There is small gallery dedicated to children and their pets over the years.   The little boy and skunk photos dates to 1952.  It is unclear whether the skunk is a pet, which I certainly don’t advise giving a child today, or he is at a petting zoo.   Either way, it is a cute photo.   There are other photos dating from mostly the 1940s-1960s of children with dogs, horses, cats, fish and more.

There is an additional photo gallery of celebrities and pets.  There is a group of Celebrities with Tiny Dogs, and you will recognize many modern starlets there.  In fact, the collection does have some older photos, but is very heavily weighted towards the recent.   However, the Celebrities with Large Dogs features a larger assortment of Hollywood stars, many from the classic era of film.  A young Elizabeth Taylor plays with her dogs, Shelley Winters is on vacation with her dog in 1949, and dating from a bit later, Adam West appears with his Great Dane.  Could it be that small dogs are more of a fad now?  Small dogs are great, but the stars of yesteryear knew that big dogs rocked just as much.

Have you found any other great pet photos in the Life gallery?  I have had a great time looking around at them so far.

On January 16th, the Doobie Brothers will play at the Detroit International Auto Show Charity Preview.   The preview gives attendees an exclusive look at this year’s auto show with a cocktail in their hand.  Attire is Black Tie, and the event runs from 6 PM until 9 PM.  Ticket sales are divided up between several area children’s charities, and over the years, millions of dollars have been raised for worthy causes.

Tickets are $400, of which $390 is tax deductible as a donation.  Attendees will be treated to a special performance by the Doobie Brothers right at the show!  In addition, attendees will receive a ticket to a concert by the Jonas Brothers over the weekend as complimentary.  The Jonas Brothers will open up the remainder of the tickets to their local fan club, but Charity Preview participants receive them as a special “thank you.”   Because people are more reluctant this year to shell out money for an event, the group graciously agreed to be used as an enticement to generate sales of tickets.

So let us recap what you get:

You get to see the Jonas Brothers.  I looked up regular ticket prices and their next concert is $105.93 – $138.03 a pop
As far as the Doobie Brothers, their tickets run $40-$70 depending on venue and how far back you are
So we are running $145-$208 right there.
Regular ticket to the auto show $12 each
Champagne you will consume at the event – Anywhere between $8-100 depending on how many and the quality

Okay, if purchased seperately, you are already running in the $320.00 range, and that is way before you factor in any appetizers or  hors d’œuvres, or figure in what you would have had to have paid to check your coat at a regular event.

In addition, you get to write off $390. So, they are actually paying YOU to come to the Charity Preview. Isn’t that generous?? You get to claim honors as the good guy or good girl, yet YOU are being paid to come and be treated to music and tickets and champagne, and the chance to walk around in that dress or tux you never get to wear.

For all of the accountants out there, I know the statement is not true. It really usually means you will get $195.00 off your taxes at the end of the year (half of $390.00), which could be a refund or a tax deduction. So, really when you factor everything out, you are really only spending $100.00 or less for the whole hootenanny. You still come out AHEAD though compared to the wonderful time you have. Still, think of it as them paying YOU because you won’t have to think about the picky detail until NEXT year. Whoop-de-doo.

To purchase tickets to the Charity Preview, please CLICK HERE

You have probably seen this video already, as it has been circulating. I don’t know if this one has gone quite “viral” yet, but as I saw it twice, I am sure that it is on its way.  I had injured myself (more on that later) so was feeling pretty sorry for myself. This video cheered me up.  I hope it does the same for you. Sit back, and watch carefully…

I wonder how the ever talented Daisy the Curly Cat would review this video.  She certainly has some fun ones of her own.

Surely this kitty will get invitations from around the world for a job with the Secret Service, a permanent residence at a Shaolin Temple.  The follow up video would be Crouching Kitty…Hidden Dragon.   Or maybe on Her Mewjesty’s Secret Service.   I have to quit while I am ahead.

The Sproutwells have a new episode on Youtube.  I mentioned before about their little dog Phyto, who I cannot decide is supposed to be a watermelon or not.   At any rate, he is adorable.   In this installment, the father, who happens to be a banana married to a head of Romaine Lettuce (the beautiful Romaina!), comes home to find the nosey neighbor over as well as the new member of the family.  

The Sproutwells are a promotional tool to raise awareness of freshfunds. I have signed up for the site and it is really easy. You just look for point emblems on specially marked Fresh Express salads, as well as a Chiquita product or two.  You can use the points to win prizes or bid auctio-style on some pretty cool stuff.  What’s more, is you can use your points to donate to charity! Staying healthy is what is going to help you save the world everyday, right?

I think that these last two episodes of the Sproutwells also remind people to take care whe selecting a pet, or bringing one home.  It is so important that he/she is the right fit for your family, or vice versa.   Since the only Fruit and Vegetable family in town have adopted a doggie that looks like a watermelon, I call that a match!