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Sunday, November 02, 2008

Maggie Anniversary Party Webcam [updated - Maggie has died]


Dianne sent me the following email this morning, along with pictures her friend Chris took when they went to visit Maggie this year. There's a link to the Anniversary Party webcam - happening right now - but I'm having trouble opening the webcam myself on my Mac - guess they're getting a lot of traffic. I'm assuming that 11am is California time, so it's 10am here in Alaska.
For those who cannot celebrate Maggie's special day, in-person, the webcam will be focused on her from 11:00am - 1:00pm. To view the webcam, on Sunday, please click here or go to www.pawsweb.org and select "webcams" from the Quick links menu, located on the right side of the PAWS home page. At 12:00pm Maggie will devour her anniversary cake on the webcam. PAWS? Co-founder, Pat Derby, will bake Maggie?s cake. It will be made of bran and molasses, and will be adorned with raisins, Jolly Ranchers, and a carrot candle. As an added treat to honor Maggie's first year at ARK2000, Dr. Mel Richardson, PAWS Veterinarian, will give Maggie a very special pedicure. He will then save and package Maggie's foot trims to share with her human friends (after they are cleaned and polished of course). There will only be 10 packages available. Bidding will begin at $10 each. If you would like to bid on Maggie's foot trims please click here . PAWS? plans to create a unique line of elephant foot trims jewelry. The designs are in the development phase.
There's something about all this that bothers me. I'm not sure if it is making such a fuss over an elephant when there are starving people - especially children - around the world. But another part of my brain says that we can't individually take care of all the problems in the world so we should do the things we can. We don't have to bring everyone down to the lowest level, but those of us who live relatively well, should make sure that we are helping to dismantle the obstacles for others to do the same. Elephant toenail jewelery? Well, if Alaskan tourist shops can sell moose poop jewelery, why not?
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4 comments:

  1. AnonymousSunday, November 2, 2008 at 11:54:00 AM AKST

    This is great! Thanks, Steve, for remembering Maggie's one year in California. She looks so good and has gained 350 ounds this past year!
    The pictures are perfect. PS - Maggie lies down and gets up now without a problem.
    Dianne

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousSunday, November 2, 2008 at 12:06:00 PM AKST

    Not just the fuss and money for Maggie, but all my luxuries and amenities in life when people are starving in the world. Or when a simple bednet will prevent malaria.
    Students in the grad class I teach are reading Paul Farmer's Pedagogy of Power about health care and social injustics in Haiti, Chiapas, peri, and other countries. Also drug resistant TB in Russia prisons.
    Paul Farmer (Harvard Medical School faculty and Haiti physician) says that we can at least recognize that we are privileged.

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousSunday, November 2, 2008 at 12:08:00 PM AKST

    I made a bid on one of Maggie's toe nails.
    Didn't see anything in the Anchorage Daily News about Maggie's first anniversary.

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousSunday, November 2, 2008 at 1:23:00 PM AKST

    Thanks for posting these pictures, Maggie sure looks great after a year in California with elephant friends to spend her days with.
    Chris

    ReplyDelete

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