A longtime friend of ours over the years owned several dogs - all German Shepherds. She has such a thorough knowledge of dog psychology that all of her dogs didn’t know that they were dogs; they thought they were humans. They appeared to understand dozens of commands.
I remember one evening when we were visiting our friend's home, and in the midst of our conversation, she abruptly and quietly slipped in the command for Rogue, her dog at that time, to play the piano. He very calmly got out of his bed, lumbered over to the piano, placed his huge paws on the keys, and “played” some notes. It wasn't exactly Chopin, but it was a good effort.
Later that evening, I was playing “Moon River” on the piano. Our friend said to Rogue, “Now you can start singing,” and Rogue made a good canine effort to sing the song. He wasn’t that bad - better than some of the vocalists I have seen and heard on TV recently.
I have always enjoyed watching well trained and disciplined dogs interact with their owners. The best acts displaying the human-canine bond I have seen recently are on the first two of these videos.
Video 1. Tina Humphrey and Chanti (Act 1)
Video 2. Tina Humphrey and Chanti (Act 2) This lady has had quite a lot of TV coverage recently and rightly so. Here she is performing at the Crufts Freestyle Heelwork to Music contest at Crufts 2007. This dog should show the world that rescue dogs are capable of great things. Just look how much Chandi loves Mummy.
Video 3. Dr. Marty Becker: Defining the Human-Animal Bond
On another note:
If you want to laugh yourself silly, read An Explorer's blog for Wednesday. He describes his first date with the woman who was to become his wife. Unfortunately for him but fortunately for us, a few funny things happened on the road to romance.
Every time we hear gospel music being sung in a church or soul music being sung in other settings, we are indebted to the composer who was the first to write and publish gospel music - Thomas Dorsey, born in Georgia in 1899. Dorsey created gospel music by blending traditional church music, old Negro spirituals, and Christian hymns with rhythms taken from jazz and the blues.
Starting his career as a blues piano player in his 20s, Dorsey only later turned his efforts to writing and publishing sacred music. So it seemed only natural to him that he would incorporate the blues and jazz rhythms into the gospel music he wrote. At first, both black and white churches rejected his music, thinking it too worldly for sacred music.
One of Dorsey’s most well-known compositions is “Take My Hand, Precious Lord,” which he wrote as he grieved over the loss of his wife and child in childbirth. For a while, he withdrew from the public in his grief and even blamed God for his loss, saying that he wouldn’t serve the Lord any more. Gradually, however, he overcame his grief and as he sat at a piano, he composed the song mentioned above.
Dorsey died in 1993; but his blending of secular and sacred music continues to this day, beloved by so many people both within and outside a church setting.
Video 1. Thomas Dorsey sings his composition “Take My Hand, Precious Lord”
Video 2. Aretha Franklin - Amazing Grace (excerpt). Excerpts of Aretha in 1972 with Rev James Cleveland. She is singing in a soul music style, influenced by Gospel music.
Video 3. Johnny Gill gives a soul music rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner”
Just as I was about to give up on evangelicals after learning that Pat Robertson had called for the assassination of the leader of a sovereign nation because he disagreed with his politics (Video 1), I discovered Rick Warren, the pastor of the Saddleback Church and the author of the Purpose-Driven Life, one of the best-selling books of all time. Warren’s mission is to attack what he calls the five "Global Goliaths" -- spiritual emptiness, egocentric leadership, extreme poverty, pandemic disease, and illiteracy and poor education. He teaches that doing good is the only way humans can create significance in their lives. In recent years, Warren has become a prominent steward of social justice, speaking out on poverty relief and encouraging spiritual leaders to play a role in guiding the planet toward sustainability.
Video 1. Christian Leader Pat Robertson Calls for Assassination of Hugo Chavez
“Even your best friend won’t tell you.” I think there used to be a Listerine commercial that said that in regard to halitosis. I have a best friend who had a problem, and I thought as a best friend I should tell him about it. He had reached that stage of life where second puberty sets in and hair starts to grow out of a man’s nose and his ears. I had difficulty carrying on a conversation with him because every time I saw the hair protruding from his nostrils and his ears, I couldn’t hear a word he was saying.
One day I decided it was time to let him know about his problem, but how could I do it diplomatically? Finally, I told him that I had just purchased a new nose and ear hair groomer, and that I was very pleased with it. I said, “Now I plan to use it at least once a week to trim the hair in my ears and nose. You know, you would look a lot better groomed if you trimmed your nose and ear hairs periodically.” The next time I saw him, all the nose and ear hairs were gone.
Sometimes, even your best friend will tell you.
Video 1. The Five Stages of Second Puberty. What to do when your body changes, again.
Video 2. Nose Hair. When Kelly spots a nasty nose hair on her boyfriend, she'd do anything to get rid of it.
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