Temple Grandin and "Temple Grandin"

I do not subscribe to HBO, so I usually catch up late with their acclaimed films and series.  "Angels in America" and "Six Feet Under" have been two of my favorite works of film in any medium.  Now I can add "Temple Grandin" to this list.

I knew nothing of the real Temple Grandin until I picked up and read one of her books, "Animals in Translation".  In this candid and brave story, Grandin describes her struggles with autism and the way her disability altered her ways of thinking and perceiving the world.  As she discovered her affinity for animals and her ability to "think" like they do (in images) and empathize with their behavior, she completed an advanced degree, developed into an animal advocate, and re-designed a less cruel existence and end for farm animals that are raised for food. 


Sinclair Lewis and "The Jungle" aside, many holding pens and slaughterhouses are still terribly cruel places for animals who make an ultimate sacrifice for human consumption.  Even in the best of conditions, many feel that the idea of animal slaughter is upsetting, distasteful, and unnecessary. Grandin took a practical approach, accepting the fact that as long as these animals are still being bred and raised for food, she encouraged and championed for a more humane end to their lives. 


However, even an organization like Mercy for Animals, which leads a growing movement to completely end the slaughter of animals in favor of vegetarian and vegan lifestyles, recognize her expertise, calling her "the world's leading expert on farmed-animal welfare... (and) an associate professor of livestock behavior at Colorado State University and an animal welfare advisor to the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the meat industry".  Her letters condemning the horrible conditions and animal treatment at many livestock farms are frequently published on the Mercy for Animals web site. (Here's another link)


I started reading Grandin's book because I love reading about animals and animal behavior.  When I finished, Grandin had become sort of a personal hero of mine, overcoming her disability, which was little understood then, educating herself and using her unique passion and understanding of animals for a greater good.

Claire Danes captures Dr. Grandin's mannerisms and speech patterns in the HBO film "Temple Grandin", but this is much more than an act of mimicry.  Danes found deep reservoirs of anger and fear and courage to reveal Grandin's passion and single-mindedness from the inside out.  Scenes from Grandin's early years are especially compelling and entertaining.  Danes wins us over to this difficult yet inspiring character, and helps us feel her rages and extreme bouts of panic, which she learned to alleviate with her invention of a "squeeze machine".  By discovering that cattle calmed down when held tightly in place and "hugged" by the walls of their holding pens, Grandin used her incredible skill to engineer and build her own device for her school dorm room. This is an especially ironic and creative incident in the film, as we understand Grandin's terror of human physical contact.


From her school days to her work with the department of agriculture, "Temple Grandin" is well-paced and authentic in every detail.  Director Mick Jackson uses cinematic language to suggest Grandin's weird and wonderful perceptions of the world.  The film is carried by Danes with terrific support from Julia Ormond as her perplexed mother, Catherine O'Hara as her understanding Aunt, and David Strathairn as a sympathetic and forward-thinking professor who believes in Grandin and mentors her through her education.


This film was the deserving recipient of seven Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, an Eddie (film editor's guild) award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, a Director's Guild Award, and a Peabody Award. 
I urge you to see it for inspiration, information, and understanding.  It's unlike most films you've been likely to have seen, and it's one you will feel better about yourself having seen.

A Tribute to Cloris Leachman For Speaking Out Against Animal Abuse

I love Cloris Leachman, and among my friends in the blogosphere, I know I am not alone.


It might be easy to dismiss the 85-year-old  Leachman as a comic self-parody, one of a number of aging performers who have re-invented themselves as adorable, slapstick jokesters.  A contemporary of Betty White, some may even write Leachman off as a pale imitation.


This would be unfair to both performers, who have had long careers as funny women.  Leachman's appearances for Mel Brooks (especialy Frau Blucher---n-e-e-e-e-i-i-i-gh-gh-gh!) and her recurring role as Phyllis on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show"  have endeared her to millions over the decades. 

Leachman, however, will always have my respect, love, and gratitude, for creating one unforgettable screen character in particular.. 


Anyone who has seen "The Last Picture Show" will never forget Leachman's portrayal of Ruth Popper, the desperately lonely wife of a Texas high-school coach in 1951. During her agonizing final scene with Timothy Bottoms, audiences watched stunned, sympathetic and taken aback by the explosive power her character unleashed on the boy who stirred her long-buried passions, and then betrayed her; and felt her her self-resignation, and healing forgiveness, at the final dissolve.


Leachman elevates the film to even higher realms of art in these moments.  Even if she had not received a well-deserved Oscar for it in 1971, this performance would be burned into my memory.

And now, I love and respect Leachman even more for her recent piece in The Huffington Post (Don't Cover Up Animal Cruelty, April 27) in which she speaks out against a heinous law being considered in Iowa, which actually just passed in the Iowa House.  The law basically forbids anyone from photographing farm animals without permission from the owner.


Legislators have introduced this bill to protect factory farms from being exposed as hell-holes for innocent cows, pigs, and chickens raied for food.  Organizations like PETA and Mercy for Animals have effected successful prosecutions of dairy and other farmers for heinous treatment, based on the evidence of undercover videos taken on these farms.


It is a sorry day when lawmakers spend valuable time providing statutory protections for animal cruelty.


Leachman tells us what the consequences of the bill would mean to crusaders who act out of sympathy for these suffering creatures:

If HF 589 becomes law, whistle-blowers who try to expose cruelty to animals in the meat, dairy or egg industries could be charged with a misdemeanor or a felony, face criminal prosecution and be ordered to pay heavy fines or even serve jail time. That's a harsher punishment than the actual perpetrators of animal abuse receive, in many cases.

Stories like this one from Iowa send me toward the edge of despair.  What helps bring me back for a while are the actions of those like Cloris Leachman who use their celebrity and good-will to champion for the unfortunate, those without a voice, the animals among us who live for our sake, and don't deserve a miserable existence.

And so I thank you, Cloris Leachman.  I would not presume that she would want to read my words here....but if any of you happen to know her, feel free to forward this tribute to her.


And, for those of you who may only know of Cloris from her appearance on "Dancing With the Stars", I am embedding the famous scene from "The Last Picture Show". So if you have not seen the film, this could be a spoiler...and I would urge you to find it, and give it a look.

"Maria...I Just Met A Goose Named Maria!"--Short Take #1

In a respite from their undercover exposés, informing us of the horrors faced by farm animals, and encouraging us to save these animals by not eating them, the Mercy For Animals organization brought to my attention a story aired on CBS news in February.

Last May, Dominic Ehler, a retired salesman from Los Angeles, was followed on his walk by a goose.  Maria, as Ehler named the goose, waited every day for Ehler's visit.  Ehler obliged, and walked with the smitten bird whenever he visited.  Maria was protective, or possessive, hissing at dogs and other creatures who sought to get to close to her newly-adopted "beau".

Maria even tried to go home with Ehler, flying alongside of him as he started off on his scooter.

If the sad and horrific stories captured by MFA investigators don't shock us away from eating meat, then maybe these stories about the mysterious bonds that exist between animal and human will convince us.

Some of you may have seen this warm and humorous video on Katie Couric's news last month--
(Click here for the story on the MFA web site:)



UPDATE: During the relocation of the bird from Echo Park for the renovation project, "Maria" was found to be a gander.  No matter....s/he is beautiful by whatever name....

Dominic still visits Maria/Mario at the Los Angeles Zoo, while the bird remains there until the 2-year project is completed.  (Read the follow-up story here in the Los Angeles Times.)

A Life Devoted to Animals--A Saturday Journal

A quick detour on Golden Globes weekend, for the sake of my animal friends...

I have been away from home, dog-sitting since December 27.  Right now I'm with Shayna, a Border Collie who I have cared for many times.  It is a long time to be living away from home, in spite of my being only a few miles from our house.  

I miss my routine.  I still have to juggle my household responsibilities with Mark, work my regular job a the College, and provide quality time for this loving animal.

My "tenure" ends this coming Friday with the return of the dog's "parents". Then I can return home, and continue our winter "nesting", safe in our little house, getting through the snowy season and making our plans for the summer.

Spending time with animals in this way reminds me that I had once considered a career in animal care of some kind: veterinary medicine, veterinary technology, dog-training, and other career directions. 

Life has a way of moving in odd ways.  You move with it to keep up, and tug in other directions to create movement, in what Ruth Gordon in "Harold and Maude" called "the cosmic dance."

But reinventing one's self offers an opportunity to sort through old decisions, and see which ones are still feasible. I realize that it is still possible to re-explore making a living devoted to animals.

Until I "shed my skin" and emerge fully committed, I seem to have found other ways to satisfy my craving for animal care and companionship: in-house dog-sitting as I described; volunteering at the Buddy Foundation; becoming involved with "Mercy for Animals"; and writing about it all. 

And maybe, this spring, bringing a new dog home to stay...

Also, I enjoy reading books and web sites to learn about new trends in dog care, as well as personal anecdotes from those who love their pets and other animals.

I recommend a very informative web site called

Vet Tech :

  "Vet Tech is the combined work of Tina Marconi and Joseph Morris. With more than 15 years of experience in the veterinary field, we share our educational experiences and knowledge with prospective veterinary technicians in order to shed some light on this very rewarding field." 

For anyone thinking about entering the veterinary tech. field, this is an excellent resource.  It's also invaluable for those wishing to know as much as possible about the health of their pets.

The journey continues....As long as there are animals that need help, people to know, loved ones to love, books to read, movies to discuss and debate with friends, and topics to write about...then the way is paved for the cosmic dance that leads to reinvention...

~   ~   ~   ~

COMING UP: 1970..the year...the movies..the Oscars!

Mercy..."Hope"...and Happy Endings...Animal Shorts for Monday

Last weekend, we dodged raindrops while attending Market Days on Chicago's Halsted Street in Boys' Town.   Market Days is an annual summer street festival to draw business into the North Side neighborhood just a few blocks from Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs.

The drive into the city and the inconvenience of the rain were worth the special trip we made to see a couple of specific exhibitors: in addition to the Windy City Gay Chorus (Mark's rehearsals for the Winter Concert begin in September), I found the booth for Mercy for Animals.  It was another in a series of small moments that may change the course of my life.

I discovered that the Chicago headquarters is an unmarked building.  The organization is run from a modest private space. The volunteers at the booth that Sunday morning, Mikael and Sarah, were extremely welcoming, even while it was necessary to grab the upper beams of their tent-booth to prevent it from blowing down in the stormy wind.

They inspired me to new levels of action...I will be out there in the months ahead, distributing information, trying new meatless recipes and promoting them among friends, and staying informed on-line.  I will never carry an undercover camera--I leave that to fellow volunteers of stronger mettle--but I sense a real chance to find a practical way to express this helpless love I feel for these creatures...

This was my first face-to-face contact with volunteers from this group after my eyes were opened a few weeks ago to the indescribable plight of animals in industrial farms. I wrote about and posted a video of the torture of dairy cows, and the images have not left me, nor ceased to make me angry and sad. Some of the literature I received detailed the mistreatment of pigs, chickens, and cattle, along with disturbing photos taken during the groups' undercover investigations.

Their efforts to expose and change these practices is taking hold:

 

"Today great progress was made to lessen the suffering of millions of farmed animals in Ohio – progress that is a direct result of the tireless effort of our volunteers and supporters....Just recently, once it became known that animal advocates had gathered enough signatures to put the initiative on the ballot, animal agriculture finally agreed to discuss meaningful reforms...." 
(Among the recommendations that have been adopted:)

•A moratorium on permits for new battery cage confinement facilities for laying hens.•Regulations regarding the manner in which sick and injured farmed animals can be killed, including a ban on strangulation. •A ban on the transport of downer cows for slaughter. •Enactment of legislation establishing felony-level penalties for cockfighters. •Enactment of legislation cracking down on puppy mills

*   *    *   *   *    *   *   *    *   * 

On July 11 a giraffe was born in the Topeka Kansas Zoo, her legs turned 180 degrees in the wrong direction.  Veterinarians fitted her with prosthetic hooves, so now she can walk and even gallop like a normal giraffe.  Zoo officials named her "Hope". 

This, to me, is the most noble application of science...

Here's the segment that was broadcast on the "Today" show last week:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

*    *    *     *    *    *     *     *     *     *
Michael Vick's fighting dogs, many of them injured, aggressive, some frightened (they are known as "pancake dogs" because they fall flat to the floor when a human approaches) are getting a second chance.  Many of them are adoptable as pets; some are working as rehabilitation dogs in hospitals. Some are assisting children by letting the kids read to them.  With patience and care, most of these rescued animals are getting a second chance at a life that dogs deserve.

Here's a brief but moving article from USA Today:

Another First Step--Monday Follow-up

(BLOGGER was out of service since last night...here's my Sunday post, a day late...hope to write more after class.  Good to be back!)

As a follow-up to my post from last evening (Saturday June 5, immediately below) I requested to be placed on a list to receive the e-newsletter for Mercy for Animals.  This is a small first step. A little regular reading is in order.  Inspiration, involvement, and power will follow.

Here's a copy of the email just received: 

Dear Friend,



Thank you for signing up to receive Mercy For Animals' monthly e-newsletter, The Voice. You have taken the first step in showing your commitment to helping prevent needless animal cruelty and build a society where all animals are treated with respect and compassion.


Now that you have joined our online community of dedicated animal activists, please consider becoming a voice for the billions of animals suffering in factory farms and slaughterhouses by becoming an official member of MFA today.


For a donation of just $15 or more, you will become an official MFA member - giving you access to exclusive MFA events, news and upcoming projects. You'll also receive a subscription to Compassionate Living, MFA's semi-annual magazine, along with a complete membership packet.


To help protect farmed animals even more, and receive additional exclusive membership benefits, consider becoming a Monthly MFA Donor by clicking here.


Again, thank you for your kindhearted commitment toward helping save innocent lives from needless suffering and cruelty.


Sincerely,






Nathan Runkle


Executive Director