| Zoo's Townee the tiger dies at 20
One of the longest-living residents of the Palm Beach Zoo was euthanized Thursday evening following years of failing health because of arthritis and kidney failure. Townee the tiger was, at 20, one of the oldest tigers living in captivity, according to the zoo. Dr. Salvatore Zeitlin, the zoo's veterinarian, cared for the Bengal tiger for much of the cat's life. "A unique bond had formed between us. He never growled at me, even when I gave vaccines and other medical injections," Zeitlin said in a statement Friday. Townee (pronounced Tony) was born in January 1987 and was given to the zoo following his confiscation by the state from a Miami resident keeping him illegally in a small enclosure. The 400-pound cat lived at the zoo with a female companion, Kali, from 1989 until Kali's death from cancer in March 2002.
DVD Review: U2 - Achtung Baby: A Classic Album Under Review
During the 1980s U2 had fast become a critically acclaimed band who reached stellar proportions. Due to their puritanical approach to both music and performance their ability to maintain their status was failing. They had fallen into the trap of being defined by a sound that was too American and an approach that was too stadium. Their album The Joshua Tree, which won the album of the year award at the Grammys in 1987, put them over the top, but they soon found that when you are at the top the only way to go is down. By the time of their next release Rattle and Hum, which was released simultaneously with a documentary of the same name, they had become redundant. The album received negative reviews from both film and music critics alike.U2 – Achtung Baby: A Classic Album Under Review takes us from the earliest beginnings of U2’s formation in Dublin, Ireland, through their early albums — Boy, War, October, and The Unforgettable Fire — into their career-changing performance at Live Aid in 1985.
Writer has a deft touch with sexual identities
LONDON, Ont.–Extravagantly gifted and astonishingly productive, Emma Donoghue, at just 37, is the author of three books of short stories, four novels, two works of literary history, several radio and stage plays performed in Ireland and is editor of two lesbian-themed anthologies. She may be the most interesting Canadian author you've never heard of. Her books are published by Virago Press in England and distributed here by Penguin but she has no Canadian publisher or agent. Although she has given two readings at Harbourfront and was once nominated for the Journey Prize, she operates largely outside Canadian literary life. Her 2001 historical novel Slammerkin, about an impoverished 18th-century Welsh woman (based on a historical character) who longs so much for fine clothes that she commits murder, has become a bestseller in the U.S.
For sale: zoo's baby bounty
Most people see Natureland as a zoo but as the breeding season ends, the animal park becomes a pet shop. About 200 budgerigars, rats, mice, chinchillas, rabbits and cockatiels born at the park recently are for sale. Park keeper Kate Smithers said the sale was a yearly event that attracted a range of shoppers, from families to elderly people looking for some company. Rats had proved the most popular pet this year - only one was left Thursday afternoon from the 20 born at the park - but the cockatiels were one of the more sociable pets available, she said. The flock of young cockatiels had been hand-reared and shared a bedroom with Natureland's capuchin monkey, Ricky, and a wood pigeon that had been brought into the park to recover after getting drunk on fermented fruit.
Arsenal Baby On 'Soccer am'
As many of you regular readers may know, Vital Arsenal editor & all round good bloke, Paul Mustchin, will become a daddy for the first time in June.
A couple of weeks ago, the Mrs & I went to Calderdale Royal Hospital for the 20 week scan to make sure everything was well in the baby's house (which it was), so imagine my suprise when, beaming with pride, I looked at the scan picture to see what looked like the Lochness Monster residing in my wifes womb with my son/daughter.
A day later I was watching Soccer am when the viewing public was treated to (if my memory serves me correctly) a fine picture of what appeared to be Jesus in a pastie.
Well if Jesus in a pastie can get on tv, surely a monster in womb has a chance.
So I sent the picture off to Mr & Mrs Lovejoy.
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