A State of Mind, a state of mine

Whatever your state of mind or current location, there is probably a remix of the Jay-Z/Alicia Keys ode to New York City "Empire State of Mind" available for your listening pleasure and localized for your hometown.

Simply type in the keywords "empire" and "state of mind," paired with the name of your city, into Google or the search function on YouTube to see if some enterprising rapper and mezzo-soprano have tailored the blockbuster single to your city, town or borough.

Whether the surge in remixes is from people trying to refute the notion that New York City is the center of the universe, or because the song is a prototypical anthemic beat that every city wants to claim as its own, it doesn't seem to matter. Nearly 100 city-specific remixes have already popped up around the Internet.

"It had been a while since a song filled New Yorkers with as much pride as this one does," said M. Tye Comer, the executive editor of Billboard.com. "I think people from other cities are seeing this, and there is an envy of that. They want to take a piece of that and bring it to their city."

Versions of the song catering to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Cleveland, Ohio; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; San Diego, California; Toronto, Ontario, in Canada; Minnesota; Louisville, Kentucky; Miami, Florida; Chicago, Illinois; and Boston, Massachusetts, are posted, with more being added frequently.

There is even an ode to the 6,000-person farm town of New Holland in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

"I thought it would be really cool to make a song about my hometown, which is the exact opposite of New York City," said college student Matthew Besson, who wrote "New Holland State of Mind."

"There are still Amish driving around in their horse-drawn carriages. And unlike New York, there is nothing to do in New Holland," he said.

Besson also wrote the song to celebrate his town and show that there isn't anything wrong with living in small towns like his. "I was just inspired by my hometown, and I wanted to give the small town of New Holland its own anthem," Besson said.

While Besson's anthem came from a place of love, other remixes came from a place of rivalry, as is the case with various odes to the city of Boston, created because denizens of the rival sports city couldn't enjoy a song that praised the Empire State.

read more on article CNN

Japan Earthquake: Dog Leads Rescuers to Injured Companions

Amid the devastation on the tsunami-hit Japan, video footage has emerged capturing the forlorn sight of a spaniel attempting to draw rescuers' attention to its injured canine companion in the country's Ibaraki Prefecture.

Canine blog www.lifewithdogs.tv uploaded the footage to youtube after receiving it from Japanese reporters who had filmed it in a coastal area of tsunami wreckage.
'That dog is a better person than most humans. Loyalty is the best word to use when you describe a dog. Truly, man's best friend is a well-deserved title,' commented one viewer.
'Why can't we humans show the same kind of loyalty and compassion?' said another.
According to posts on various social networking sites, the two dogs in the video have both since been rescued and are being looked after at an animal shelter.
The Japanese voiceover in the clip roughly translates as: 'We are in Arahama area. Looks like there is a dog... he looks tired and dirty.
'He has a silver collar. He is shaking. He seems very afraid. Oh, there is another dog. I wonder if he is dead... he is not moving. I wonder if he is alright.
'The dog is protecting him... I can't watch this. This is a very difficult to watch.
'Oh. Look. He is moving. He is alive. I am so happy to see that he is alive.
Yes! Yes! He is alive. He looks to be weakened. We need to them to be rescued soon.
'It is amazing how they survived the tremendous earthquake and tsunami. It's just amazing that they survived through this all.'


Read more: http://www.metro.co.uk/news/858361-video-japanese-dog-leads-rescuers-to-injured-companion#ixzz1K64KR3N8

read more: ID4PET Blog

National Pet ID Week Kicks off Monday

Dogs get lost every day. In fact, statistics show ONE IN THREE pets will get lost at some point in their life. A good one. Collars and Tags are a reliable way to identify your pet. A collar worn for purposes of identification must stay on the pet as long as it is in a situation where it could get lost. ID tags for dogs and cats are your first line of defense for your pet, should they ever get lost. Pet ID tags are the most efficient and affordable way to recover your pet in a quick and efficient manner. Many times helpful people take the dog in but do not know how to contact an owner looking for the dog.Have your dog's name, your name, address and phone number put on the tag. Make sure everything is current and up to date. State your pet is on medication and reward if found will help too.

Act now. Buy a good one today.

Happy Birthday ASPCA

Sunday, April 10, marks the 145th birthday of the ASPCA, the oldest humane organization in the Western Hemisphere (but we’ve been told we don’t look a day over 100!). When our founder, Henry Bergh, first spoke up for animals in Civil War-era New York, America was not a very animal-friendly place—but Bergh, a gifted speaker with friends in high places, rallied people to the cause and succeeded in getting the New York State Legislature to pass the charter incorporating the ASPCA on April 10, 1866. Nine days later, the first effective anti-cruelty law was passed and, with a team of three, the ASPCA began working to enforce it.

Well before the days of radio, television and the Internet, the ASPCA quickly changed the way America thinks about animals. Within five years of our founding, SPCAs had sprung up in cities including Boston, Buffalo and San Francisco. By the time Bergh died in 1888, 37 of the 38 states in the Union had passed anti-cruelty laws.

Go Orange for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Month!

continue reading on
ID4PET website
ascpa.com

Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore

My new favorite cats and dogs movie: Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore and I would like to share with you all. And I think this is a perfect cat ID tag for Kitty Galore.

Story guideline:
In the age-old battle between cats and dogs, one crazed feline has taken things a paw too far. Kitty Galore, formerly an agent for cat spy organization MEOWS, has gone rogue and hatched a diabolical plan to not only bring her canine enemies to heel, but take down her former kitty comrades and make the world her scratching post. Faced with this unprecedented threat, cats and dogs will be forced to join forces for the first time in history in an unlikely alliance to save themselves - and their humans - in "Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore," a comedy that blends live action with state-of-the-art puppetry and computer animation. It's time for the fur to fly.

More info on movieinsider.com
Visit here for the cat ID tag details.