i just want to put out there that i'm not quite sure how i feel about all this blogging. in the end it is about other people and an audience that you don't really need to committ to. at first i thought hey, this will make me think and write about things and attempt to separate out personal stuff from what others might enjoy reading. not sure how that is going, and not sure if i can truly get into something that is about others reading. ...just a morning two sense. i'm also one of those people who starts new phases of life with a new journal. somehow the form is a transformation.

i have had many conversations in the last year or so about people making art without knowing the "classical" arts and what that means. but what about classic cartoons? what about the grinch (the '66 version) or the old disneys...that scene where cinderella is scrubbing the floor and singing and when her voice begins to cannon new reflections of her in bubbles rise out of the suds, for example. where are cartoons like that these days?

while sitting in traffic on mass ave. i had the pleasure to witness this small protest....makes you think.

Demonstration Against Force Feeding Ducks and Geese
Friday, 03 December 2004 6:30 PM - 8:00 PM
Organizer: Massachusetts Animal Rights Coalition

Foie gras is made from the grotesquely enlarged livers of very young ducks and geese. To make foie gras, workers shove long inflexible pipes down 8-10 week old ducks' and geese' throats and pump up to 7 pounds of food per day into their stomachs to enlarge their livers (called gavage feeding). This is the equivalent of eating 16 pounds of spaghetti for a human. On average, they are force-fed 20 to 30 percent of their body weight each day. This painful force-feeding is the general method used for all foie gras production. The force-fed birds become too sick to even walk because of the serious liver disease hepatic lipidosis. Vets say they must experience unspeakable pain.

Animals also suffer ruptured stomachs, throats, liver disease, foot infections, kidney necrosis, spleen and liver damage, bruised and broken bills, and tumor-like lumps in their necks. They are usually crammed into tiny, vomit-covered cages for this horror. At one Hudson Valley farm, so many ducks died when their stomachs burst, workers were given a bonus if they killed fewer than 50 birds a month. One duck had a maggot-infested neck wound so severe that water spilled out of it when he tried to drink. Birds have literally exploded from the force-feeding.

Only males are used for foie gras because they produce larger livers. Female hatchlings are drowned, beaten, or crushed to death.

Foie gras farms have been banned in the UK, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Luxembourg, Norway, Israel (previously the 4th largest producer), Sweden, Switzerland, the Czech Republic and Poland. Many restaurants have banned it, including the San Francisco Hilton, Chicago's Pump Room and San Antonio's La Louisiane. United Airlines, Delta, Holland KLM, and Scandinavia's SAS have removed foie gras from their menus. The Boston Symphony dropped foie gras from their annual Wine & Food Event. Trader Joe's east and west coast stores have stopped selling it. State bills banning it have been introduced in both California and New York--the only US states that produce foie gras.

MARC sent a polite letter and pledge card for Clio's owners to sign agreeing to stop serving foie gras and a member also met with them in person but they never responded.