I was looking through yahoo news photos from around the world. I took particular interest to ones involving an Australian bushfire. I believe this took place around the 8th or so of this month? Not sure if anything about it has been posted around here, as the more I looked into the story, the more I realized how much of a global interest it has, especially in regards to a Koala named Sam (Samantha) and a fireman, David Tree, who helped her**.

This is the picture that initially attracted my attention:


"A koala named Bob (top), rescued from last week's deadly bushfires, puts his paw around new friend and fellow fire survivor Sam as she recovers from her burns at Southern Ash Wildlife Centre near Melbourne February 11, 2009. A love story about two koalas rescued from Australia's deadliest bushfires has provided a glimmer of hope after days of devastation and the loss of more than 180 lives."
(Southern Ash Wildlife Centre/Colleen Wood/Reuters)


Then this picture followed, which made my heart ache a bit. I immediately wondered how he came to approach her and what the scenario was like (which we get to find out... )


"A firefighter finds a koala moving gingerly on her scorched paws after wildfires sweep Australia. "Sam" accepted a bottle of water and is now recovering at a wildlife shelter."


Then I did another search, which brought me to this video of the fireman approaching the Koala and giving her water.


"A koala named Sam is given a drink of water by Country Fire Authority volunteer fire fighter Dave Tree as he rescued her after deadly fires swept through the area of Mirboo North, about 120km (75 miles) southeast of Melbourne, February 8, 2009."
(Mark Pardew/Reuters)



A few more photos from news.com.au- Tree and Sam reunited..
insanely sad and cute- I want to kiss and hug and squish her with love!











Taken from above link, the following article is one of many available.
[box] Feb 12, 2009 04:30 AM
Comments on this story (2)
Belinda Goldsmith
Reuters News Agency

CANBERRA-A love story between two badly burned koalas rescued from Australia's deadliest bushfires has provided some heart-warming relief after days of devastation and the loss of more than 180 lives.

The story of Sam and her new boyfriend Bob emerged after volunteer firefighter Dave Tree used a cellphone to film the rescue of the bewildered female found in a burned-out forest at Mirboo North, 150 kilometres southeast of Melbourne.

Photos and a video of Tree, 44, approaching Sam while talking gently to her, and feeding her water from a plastic bottle as she put her burned claw in his cold, wet hand quickly hit website YouTube.

But it was after reaching the Southern Ash Wildlife Shelter that Sam met and befriended Bob.

The shelter's Colleen Wood said both koalas were doing well, while other animals like possums, kangaroos and wallabies were also starting to emerge from the debris.

She said Sam had suffered second-degree burns to her paws and would take seven to eight months to recover while Bob had three burned paws with third-degree burns and should be well enough to return to the bush in about four months.

"They keep putting their arms around each other and giving each other hugs," said Wood.

"They really have made friends and it is quite beautiful to see after all this. It's been horrific."

Tree, a volunteer with the Country Fire Authority Victoria, said the pair have "really taken a shine to each other," adding that after the devastating fires "it gives people a bit of hope."

Meanwhile, police in the state of Victoria have detained two people suspected of deliberately lighting one of the bushfires that tore through rural towns north of Melbourne on the weekend, fanned by strong winds and heat-wave temperatures.

"The investigation is in its initial stages. Two people are assisting police with inquiries," a police spokesperson said today.

The fires have burned 1,033 homes and left 5,000 people homeless. Authorities say the death toll is expected to rise beyond 200 as more bodies are discovered in the charred remains of houses.[/box]

• There are some conflicting articles regarding the timing of the video. Firefighter, David Tree took the picture and video about a week before the fires? So while nothing above appears to be untrue, the timing if the video is in question. Regardless the pictures are what they are, an animal has been rescued and things are going well.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10556565

[box] Footage not what it seems * Prue Vincent-February 12, 2009

'Koala Man' Dave Tree woke up this morning to find he'd made front-page news across the globe.

NBC, Fox, CNN, even Ellen Degeneres have been on the phone, propelling Dave into the spotlight.

Unfortunately nobody appears to have asked the relevant question 'when was this video filmed?'

The video of the Mirboo North resident stroking a singed koala was actually taken in the week leading up to the deadliest bushfires in Australian history, during preventative backburning operations.

The video shows Dave feeding water from a bottle to the koala, now universally known as 'Sam'. The wounded animal also rests its paw on Dave's hand.

Now Dave has become a household name from London to Los Angeles, but he says all the media interest has taken its toll.

"I think it happened about a week and a half ago, but you'll have to bear with me - I'm losing track of the days.

"I've had all these phone calls for interviews, I've lost contact. I can't get my head around it. I don't think it's finished yet.

"But if Oprah Winfrey called and wanted me to come over to be on her show, I'd have to say No - I'm terrified of flying. I can't get in a plane.

Dave says there was no intention to deceive the public or court publicity and fame.

He says he only took the video to show his daughter.

"I emailed the photos out to a few people to cheer them up. And it's just snowballed from there.

"It's just gotten so out of control, I definitely wasn't up for it. My head's spinning. I'm having a hard time dealing with it...Mentally...it's just, wow. I'm really outside my comfort zone.

"I'm a country boy. I live in a small town of 1800. "

"If people see it as a distraction and a good news story amidst all the tragedy we're going through, then that's great.

Despite the time-lag, the photographs of Tree stroking Sam the Koala have come to symbolise the plight of native animals left homeless after thousands of hectares of bushland burnt.

"At first she was really wary, then she just plonked down and it was like "You're a big predator, but I'm sore, I'm beat, I'm done." She was in pain. And she just looked up at me. So I yelled out for the bottle of water. And she started lapping it up.

Tree was reunited with Sam after she'd been taken to the Mountain Ash Wildlife Shelter for bandaging.

"It was great to see her again. She had a sniff and I got a bit up close and personal, and I even got a bit choked up.

"So I got in there and got a few happy snaps but I had to bail because I was getting a bit chocked up.

Tree is full of praise for the CFA and DSE's work.

"I don't think there's a word in the English vocabulary that sums up the work these guys are doing. The CFA is a massive family. If one stands we all stand, if one falls, we all fall.

"We got off scot-free in our hometown. My heart goes out to those guys out there still fighting. It's just tragic what's happened.

"So many people have cried over it and I think people needed a release. I think that's why they've related to the koala so much."
[/box]

Relevant post title but nothing risque..


I've now turned my reading attention to the late sci fi and mainstream writer, Philip K. Dick. His novel, "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?", was the basis to the 1982 film, "Bladerunner" and was the novel that spurred my interest to revisit his work.

Although I read books from any genre, there are few authors** that I formally collect. I am always looking to latch on to a new author or be introduced to an established one that I had not yet 'met' or had simply forgotten about, as is the case here.

My boyfriend bought me, "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep" awhile back, and then a recent jaunt to the book store, led me to seeking out another novel. I decided on, The Minority Report, a book of short stories. It was here that I realized that there are many novels and short stories that have been used as a movie premise:
-Minority Report (based on the short story, The Minority Report),
-Total Recall (same book title)
-Screamers (based on, Second Variety)
-Next (based on the short story, The Golden Man)
-Paycheck (same as book title)
-A Scanner Darkly (same as book title)
-Impostor (same as book title)

and several adaptations, such as Ubik Video Game based on his story, Ubik and an Opera, "Valis Opera", adapted from Dick's book, Valis. And there are others.

Many literary critics and scholars in Western and Eastern Europe, Japan, and throughout North America agree that Philip K. Dick will be remembered in years to come as one of the great novelists of the 20th century.

Although this assessment is largely based on the power and continuing relevance of Dick's science fiction novels, these critics argue that he is most accurately regarded not only as a great writer of science fiction but as a major literary figure whose works make an important and ongoing contribution to world literature of all genres.

I'm happy to see that there are several books that I have yet to read by Philip K. Dick. I won't read them all back to back, as I don't want the stories to morph into each other, but I will purchase them regularly, officially adding this writer to my collection.

I normally gulp down books, yet with science fiction, I find myself reading a bit more slowly and carefully. Often the context of a novel can be assumed, a logical progression ensues and the environments are rational and logical. In sci-fi, nothing is like that, so to glaze over a sentence could mean the difference between truly getting what the author is saying and just having a muddled sense of the story, losing the intricacies and oddities. I like to envision every detail and absorb the voice of the writer, and therefor prefer a fresh mind when settling down to read.

The one pet peeve I have about newer printing cover art is anything that is adapted to have a modern image especially when the novel was made into a movie. I do not want to see celebrities on the cover of a classic work, and while I am at it, nor do I want to see, "Oprah's Book Club" stamp of approval. Or, "now a major motion picture" label plastered across the cover. I appreciate the original cover or something that maintains the integrity of the original context. Yet, whatever gets people to buy/borrow books and read is the most important prerogative in my mind.

Another pet peeve is the failure to incorporate the original publish date. When multiple publishers print a book, they need only to include the years that they printed it, not the year that the book was originally written. Some include this information somewhere, but not always, and definitely not in a casual search. ie; a book may have a copyright of 2008, but was originally written and published in 1934.

picture of a young P.K.D.


older author


The Minority Report- the book with cover that I bought. Not sure what the original work is, if this is it or not. There are other versions.


another cover from The Minority Report


another cover art version of, The Minority Report. It is a Greek cover, but it is an example of what I don't like- a cover with a celebrity from the movie adaptation (Tom Cruise).


all pics from www.philipkdick.com


Back to collected authors..

• These are just a few authors that I add to my collection as they come out and/or as money permits.

Chuck Palaniuk
Kurt Vonnegut
Naomi Wolf
Toni Morrison
David Sedaris
Jennifer Lancaster
Paco Ahlgren
Norah Vincent
Issac Asimov
Madeline L'engle
Octavia Butler
Alexander Dumas
Augusten Burroughs
Frances Hodgson Burnett

Also, anything classic, significant, culturally revealing and impacting- ie;

Ernest Hemingway, Jack Kerouac, Kate Chopin, John Steinbeck, F Scott Fitzgerald, Leo Tolstoy, Franz Kafka, Maya Angelou, Rudyard Kipling, Charlotte Bronte, Emily Bronte, Upton Sinclair, JD Salinge, Ralph Ellison and so forth. Many works that are often listed as 'must reads' in ones lifetime. There are many I am forgetting as I am just trying to visualize my shelves, but you get the idea.

My books are beat up and smell old. There are many that I wold like to read again, as perspectives change over time and I simply forget much of what I read and the impact of it. Yet there are so many that I have yet to read, that I get overwhelmed. I know I write about books a lot, but it is truly a passion of mine, so I am bound to say the same things over and over again as though I was saying them for the first time. My excitement never wanes. I vacillate between fiction and non fiction. I read for mindless pleasure, for reflection of life and culture over time, for learning something entirely new and/or adding to my knowledge base.

From the purely informational choice of reading material, I gravitate and own several pertaining to the sciences, health, medicine, nutrition, neuropsychology, behavior modification, business, systems thinking, entrepreneurial books, quantum physics, nature, photography, art, inspirational thinking and philosophy. These naturally take me longer to read and it can take a little while for me to get into the groove of the subject matter; so I enjoy them most when I have a large chunk of time to devote to reading.


As much as I do a lot of reading online- blogs, articles, etc, I've never been fond of reading ebooks. Staring at a screen is bothersome to me, and the experience lacks the 'feel of the experience' that I am looking for. What do you think?

well, although related, this was a disjointed post. Thanks for reading, if you got this far.

Time to clean, get some work done, and run a few errands. The sunshine these past few days combined with the greenery after the snow melted, makes me think that it is warmer out than what it is. Even though it is still cold out there, it is psychologically uplifting to experience the longer day full of sunshine.


WOW!! Just looked at my calender..
Did you know that in less than three weeks we forward our clocks ahead?! and in less than five weeks it will be officially spring? yay! Good thoughts to have...

Made me laugh..

a lot.





Catchy lyrics.. sure to get stuck in your head.

I'm sad and feel a little sick inside.

My heart goes out to the family and friends of those people on the plane and in that house.

I need to turn off cnn and close out of news websites. It is too much.


A little too close to home..

came from a LOL meme, but made me feel more sappy than anything.

• sniff*