Holiday Hyenas at your heel? Here's a way to Restore More Than Your Seasonal Spirit.

 

As a public service, this blog will lift the holiday stress from your stooped shoulders, bringing merriment and cheer to your desperate and dark season.  Just throw away that list, no need to hunker in line outside the big box outlet in the small hours to fight to the last "Tickle-Me-Elmo".

No more!

There is a better way, a way in which you can do good as you do well by the dear ones on your list.

Here is how. Simply contact Mr. Chris Sparks and order multiple copies of the fabulous Team Cul de Sac tribute to cartoonist with Parkinson's Richard Thompson. For only $35.50, Chris, who organized the project, will inscribe the book for you with his name, hunt up a sturdy box, and mail the book to the address you specify. And what a book, featuring art from Bill Watterson, Gary Trudeau, Lynn Johnston and a heavenly host of heavy hitters from all corners of the cartooning cosmos. For every book you order Mr. Sparks will send $5.00 to the Michael J. Fox foundation. They will put it to the excellent use of humiliating, incapacitating, and finally destroying Parkinson's Disease, burying its shattered corpse under numerous tons of cement and setting wild hyenas loose to patrol the area to ensure that it never again sees the light of day. Now that's what I call the Christmas spirit!

Now you can cross two things off your to-do at once... end Parkinson's and finish your Christmas shopping at the same time! What are you waiting for? (Cue Joseph Spence, singing "Sandy Clor is Coming to Town")

Breaking News! "Dignified Dachshund from Anchorage Hillside" Sweeps to Third Place in Parkinson's Pets Competition.

The voting is over, the people have spoken. The dignified dachshund from the Anchorage Hillside came in third. She wins some Gramma Lucy's dog food and assorted Michael J Fox swag which we expect will make great chew toys. Vienna wishes to thank you all for your unstinting support. It's always a tough road when your legs are only six inches long.

Vienna expects to take a few weeks off to rest, spend some time with family, and pursue her hobby of scratching herself. Although she is disappointed to have slipped in and out of first place to finally finish third, she has not ruled out future electoral possibilities.

"We ran a hard campaign, a clean campaign that we are proud of. We stuck to the issue of my cuteness, and that message obviously resonated with a great many of the voting public." She went on to point out that her campaign attracted national as well as international support and said she would like to send a shout out to her friend Noelle in Great Britain and a big thank you to Roberta Greenberg and the Los Angeles Dachshund play group.

She was quick to congratulate her opponents. She had nothing but praise for first place winner Our Perfect Champion who "not only ran a clean campaign but also well-brushed" And she hopes that Milly will be able to chew her share of the prize dog food without too much difficulty from that nasty under bite.

Meanwhile behind he scenes rumors of a campaign in disarray swirled throughout the day. There were unconfirmed reports that Vienna had fired her one-person campaign staff, complaining of his lackadaisical approach to the campaign. Sources close to Vienna, including her closest friends Shadow and Olive refused to comment, although some reporters quoted Shadow as denying the entire story with a loud "NAYYYYYY!"

More on this story as it develops, if it develops.

Vienna is interviewed on KTUU Television here here

Michael J Fox Fundation Pets for Parkinson's Contest- Dignified Dacshund Struggles for Recognition

(Photo by Pamela Dunlap-Shohl)

I don't remember where I saw the information about the Michael J. Fox Foundation's Pets for Parkinson's contest. I do remember thinking that the above portrait of our Dachshund, Vienna, had a certain "je ne sais quois". For fun, I entered it.

Imagine my surprise when I went to the page where the frontrunners were posted and found Vienna running a respectable second. I voted, posted the info to my facebook page and was rewarded when I checked in later to find Vienna had made the leap to frontrunner! Since then she has slipped in and out of first place. Currently she is right behind some silky blue-blooded golden retriever named... are you ready for this? "Our Perfect Champ" Well. It ain't over until the fat Yorkie sings.

How can you help? Glad you asked. Just go here, and cast your vote for the scrappy underdog, Vienna. Look at that face. How can you say no?

A Cartoonist's Cause (Cross post from "Frozen Grin")

(Click image to enlarge.)

I've come across another place where Parkinson's Disease overlaps cartooning. Richard Thompson, a talented cartoonist and the author of the "Cul de Sac" comic strip has announced that he is also in the early stages of the post-diagnosis phase of the disease.

Unfortunately this insidious disease inflicts much damage before it is detectable. Parkinson's Disease is like a slow-moving brain injury that eventually robs its victims of the ability to initiate voluntary movement- to walk, to speak, to draw. There is no cure. However with careful management of the medications, diet, and exercise there is every hope that Richard will be able to produce his beautiful drawings for many years.

In the meantime, Richard's friends have organized a fund-raising effort on behalf of research into Parkinson's Disease through The Michael J. Fox Foundation Cartoonists are asked to contribute artwork for a book and auction to fund the cause. If you're not a cartoonist, but want to help, there is a button there which you can press to donate money.

For the theme of the book, cartoonists are invited to use the Cul de Sac characters as they will in their own artwork, interpreting them freely. My contribution appears above.