Category: The Life of Lara

It’s all here. Adventures in extreme knitting, the house of poop, and suburban permaculture. You may also find rants about politics, ecology, humanitarianism, responsible living, toe floss, and other topics not covered here. Expect profanity and irreverence. You have been warned.

The Monster is Out

Brendan McMahon has been granted bail. The prosecutor and the Senior Police Investigator were both on annual leave, and the defence applied for bail before the court date, leaving the press wondering what had happened when they turned up at the court on September 30th.

Only one Sydney newspaper ran the story, and it was two lines in a side colum, by Les Kennedy of the Sydney Morning Herald. Les was the ONLY journalist who picked up the story, and even The Rocks Police were not aware that he had been granted bail. So when a pet shop manager rang the police to report that he was in her shop trying to purchase rabbits, the police told her that she was mistaken, that he was in jail and could not possibly be in her shop. Unfortunately the store lost the surveillance camera tape, so there is not enough evidence to have him locked up again. Yet.

It seems pretty obvious to me that if he has been back to one pet store, he has been to many more. It is not likely that he has changed his ways and given up torturing animals for pleasure.

This is an enourmous blunder, and though I am appalled that he was granted bail in the first place, it is even worse that there has been no media attention, and no public outcry.

Please print out this picture and take it to your local pet shop, and ask that they not sell rabbits to this man.

Sketch from initial court appearance

Why Pet Shops Suck

Remember that a pet shop is a BUSINESS. If there was money in treating animals well, then a shelter would be a goldmine. It is not. The financial reality is that pets are only considered “cute”, and salable when they are young. That is why pet shops often have underage animals. They say they are “not for sale”, but they generate foot traffic in the store, and increase sales generally.

Anyone who has worked in retail for a while knows that stock is a commodity. Fashion is a great example. In winter, everyone wants scarves, but in summer, we all want light clothing. What happens to the scarves ? First they go on sale, and if they aren’t sold, they are dumped.

So, while there is a strict code of conduct for pet shops, it is impossible to enforce under current legislation. Staff have to be caught red handed by an officer with power to prosecute. If any of us sees an infraction and reports it, the investigating officer needs to see it with his/her own eyes in order to prosecute. That is why it is so difficult to get pet shops to treat the animals well – it inhibits the profitability of the store in many cases, and doesn’t make them liable for prosecution (mostly).

No-one disputes the fact that ALL animals deserve a loving home. And while saving one animal form an evil pet shop is great for that one animal, it is a terrible thing to do to the ones that come after. They will be treated just as badly, and while individually we can’t save them all, together we can educate, and through education we CAN make a difference.

People who work at shelters do amazing, heartbreaking, important work that leaves them very emotionally drained and fragile. Please consider the feelings of the shelter workers who are the last human face a bunny sees when they get the green needle, when you think about buying from a pet shop. Healthy, loving, beautiful rabbits are put down every day because there simply are not enough loving homes.

Masturbation Will Send You Blind

1) Being gay is not natural. Real Americans always reject unnatural things like eyeglasses, polyester, liposuction and air conditioning.
2) Gay marriage will encourage people to be gay, in the same way that hanging around tall people will make you tall.
3) Legalizing gay marriage will open the door to all kinds of crazy behavior. People may even wish to marry their pets because a dog has legal standing and can sign a marriage contract.
4) Straight marriage has been around a long time and hasn’t changed at all; women are still property, blacks still can’t marry whites, and divorce is still illegal.
5) Straight marriage will be less meaningful if gay marriage were allowed; the sanctity of Brittany Spears’ 55-hour just-for-fun marriage would be destroyed.
6) Straight marriages are valid because they produce children. Gay couples, infertile couples, and old people shouldn’t be allowed to marry because our orphanages aren’t full yet, and the world needs more children.
7) Obviously gay parents will raise gay children, since straight parents only raise straight children.
8) Gay marriage is not supported by religion. In a theocracy like ours, the values of one religion are imposed on the entire country. That’s why we have only one religion in America.
9) Children can never succeed without a male and a female role model at home. That’s why we as a society expressly forbid single parents to raise children.
10) Gay marriage will change the foundation of society; we could never adapt to new social norms. Just like we haven’t adapted to cars, the service-sector economy, or longer life spans…

Re-Posted from Knit Witch.

Branching Out !

I cast off last night 🙂

It is a little shorter than a normal scarf, but just long enough to fold and wrap, and it sits very nicely on a slim person, and the person that I intend to send it to is rather slim, so I hope she likes it !

This morning I sewed in the ends, and have given it a bath in Martha’s Wool Wash, and it is now resting on my dining table on a lovely turquoise towel. I wouldn”t exactly call it blocking. I have no pins to speak of, and no real inclination to spend an hour trying to get all the edges straight.

And here it is..
Hooray!

And again, with the little stone bunny Mark gave me for Christmas 2003

Can I bear to Part with It ?

If You Have Any Spare VIbes…

Please send them to Paige, C/- Singapore….

Paige took her teenage son on a big adventure, they visited America, and the UK, and were on their way home via Singapore when Paige had a dizzy spell and fainted, knocking her head on a metal cabinet in the ladies. She has a severe concussion, double vision, a loud ringing in her ears, and a massive, continuing headache.

She has been told she is not allowed to fly, so she is stranded far from home until she gets better. But she isn’t getting better.

The lovely Vicki has put Paige in touch with a local friend, whose brother just happens to be a top neurosurgeon. He says Paige needs an MRI, but she has bad claustrophobia….

I am very worried about my dear friend. She could use all the help the universe can muster right now.

I’ve Been Sorted…

I really thought I’d end up in Hufflepuff or Slytherin, but….

Congratulations on making Gryffindor!

Basically, you’re brave, daring, chivalrous, and pretty much.. an all around good person. Of course, some see you as a goodie-two-shoes. But hey, it’s true! You’re really good at winning, and normally always come out as the hero. Everybody likes you.. except, maybe, the Slytherins. You’re too perfect. No, really.. You’re too perfect. It’s annoying to watch you win, repeatedly. Oh well. Be proud anyway.

i'm in gryffindor!
be sorted @ nimbo.net

How To Follow A Lace Pattern in the Car

Necessity is the Mother of Invention

Though I am kinda getting the hang of the lace pattern, I decided that colouring each row differently will help me keep track of which row I am on. And I have a new iPod gadget, called the iGrip. It’s a kind of sticky pad that keeps my iPod from sliding all over the place while I drive. And guess what ? It works with knitting patterns too ! Genius 🙂