It’s official.

The producers, directors, and everyone else in charge of

my two favorite television shows have lost their minds.

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First up – the show I still have hope for. True Blood.

Last night, we watched Eric Northman stroll out into the sun and certain death in a bid to defeat Russell Edgington. The problem here is that Northman, played by Alexander Skarsgard is the best character/actor/casting-combo on the show.

If Eric does not survive the season finale (which HBO just had to postpone for two weeks) it is likely True Blood will lose a lot of viewers …. Including me. For the record, I do not actually believe Eric will cease to exist ….not because I have read the books on which the series is based, but because it would be numbers suicide for the show. I just felt the need to express myself on that particular plot development.

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Now for the second –

 Dancing with the Stars which announced the line up for the new season yesterday.

Now I don’t want to say the producers were digging the bottom of the barrel when they lined up the “stars” – heck if Jake Pavelka and Kate Gosselin count as “stars”, then I guess Mike Sorrentino and Audrina Patridge do too even though I had never heard of them before.

No the one that really gets me – and I expect this was definitely part of the design – is the inclusion of Bristol Palin.

Is she a star? The only thing I know her to be famous for is a well-publicized series of spats with her ex-boyfriend/fiancée .

Now let’s put aside the fact that her mother — Sarah Palin — is one of the most easily recognizable figures on the American political scene. Let’s just forget that Mrs. Palin is one of the most divisive figures in American politics. And let’s definitely NOT even think about the fact that plenty of her supporters hope Palin will make a run for the White House in 2012…and what this might mean for why Bristol has agreed to be on the show.

No, Bristol Palin is not a star. Her claim to fame is not anything she has done but who her mother is.

Meh …..poor choices, producers, very poor choices.

The only reason TO watch this season? Florence Henderson.

But maybe it’s just me ….

As per my own weird-little-norm-of-obsessive-news-following I have been tracking the floods in Pakistan for a couple of weeks. I quietly did my part, sending what I could to help affected families.

But it wasn’t until this morning that I decided to come out publicly and urge people to get involved.

Why?

Because according to numerous new reports, like this one from Canada’s Globe and Mail, two major reasons relief agencies are having such a hard time raising funds to help people in the affected areas are:

Not enough global media coverage.

Pakistan suffers from an image deficit.

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What books would you take with you if the world was about to end?

Strange question, right? But think about it for a second. For most writers and academics, the end-of-the-world-is-coming packing list would surely involve some pained (though probably quick, given the bigger picture,) thought over which works to take from the family or work library.

The question has been bugging me since I caught an airing of 2012 – which, beside an awesomely odd performance by Woody Harrelson, some great special effects and an extremely engaging Russian pilot named Sasha, is little more than so-so — on the television.

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The unthinkable has happened!

I am a 2010 BlogHer Voice of the Year finalist!!!

I can’t even type that without letting out an ear-splitting “squeeeeee!” and sending our cats – yet again – scurrying for the safety of the nearest closet. Actually, our cats have taken up semi-permanent residence (alternately) on the ceiling, in the closet and under the bed from the incessant screaming since I found out that somehow I made the finalist list.

If this keeps up, I predict a visit to the vet’s office to get some anxiety pills for our beloved felines.

(And I’ll be asking the vet to send the bill to BlogHer.)

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Alfred Hitchcock had it right.

After two months of Gulf Coast oil spill-inspired volunteering at the seabird sanctuary and hospital, I have come to the conclusion that Hitchcock’s The Birds (story by Daphne Du Maurier) is no fiction. More probably, it is an unauthorized biography of some poor fool who thought helping birds at his or her local sanctuary was a relaxing feel-good way to fulfill civic responsibility.

No, the truth is, the birds are out to get us! Or, at least me ….

Now why would this animal loving, 2 cats in the family, avid campaigner against animal abuse and careless environmental degradation say such a thing?!?

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If a shambling horde has set up camp outside your front and back doors, it is probably a bit late to think about preparations for a zombie infestation.

Grab yourself a backpack (toss in some canned food, first aid supplies, whatever prescriptions you’re taking), as much potable water as you have canisters for and a pillow, and climb up into your attic or crawlspace … and hope for the best.

If the living dead have not yet overrun your city, you have some time to really think about what you will do to survive the apocalypse.

Only those who seriously consider the future and act to plan for it now have any chance at survival. And like I said before, as with any issue facing the human race – poverty, hunger, human rights, the environment — we are stronger if we stick together.

Here are a few things to consider as you craft a plan to stay alive:

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The zombie hordes have invaded our cities. No one is safe. The shambling rotting corpses are everywhere!!!! A zombie apocalypse has begun.

As the infestations spread across borders a growing number of vigilant citizens around the world are taking up arms to battle back the hordes. Our only hope as a species – as it has always been – lies in putting aside our individual differences in favor of cooperating for the whole.

Since the beginning of June, the world has been in the grip of an all-out “braiiiiiins fest” that erupted after years of growing Hollywood, gamer and novel obsession with the living dead.

Those of you who dismissed my early warnings may have been laughing then …. well you’re likely to find yourselves dinner shortly.

But don’t take my word for it. Examine the evidence yourself.

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The battle lines are drawn. Tension is running high. Passion is only slightly behind. The world is abuzz with the vuvuzela. We are on the verge of the first knock-outs of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

As football (soccer) fans around the world gear up to roar their chosen sides onto victory, there is one team people around the world should all be rooting for:

Stand Up United

This side, put together by the world’s largest grassroots human rights organization Amnesty International, features a roster of true heroes – individuals who see wrong in the world around them and choose to stand up and act.

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Nelson Mandela is my hero.

Oh now, I know, I know …. I should qualify that before anyone goes off in a tizzy.

If I applied a magnifying glass to every aspect of his personal and political life I’m sure I would discover plenty of chink’s in my hero’s armor. Did he keep every promise? Did he make no mistakes at all? Did he sometimes compromise when he should have stood firm? Did he endorse violence? Support dictators and strongmen? Is he really the picture perfect specimen most would like to believe? Is South Africa now the best run, most prosperous country in the world because of his leadership?

(For the record? No. No. Yes. Yes. Yes. No. No.)

Let’s be honest here. If we discounted every potential hero on the basis of mistakes or personal indiscretions, I doubt even Ghandi would make the cut.

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 I got bit by a pelican this week.

Yep, you read it right … a pelican.

As I rubbed around the wound it occurred to me that this didn’t-see-that-one-coming experience is the story of my life. Any time I try to do something good, another little something creeps up behind to take a chunk out of my backside. You’d think I’d learn my lesson ….

So how exactly did I find myself dabbing a towel on my bloody calf from a pelican bite?

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