Bangun menentang kepincangan PAKATAN

Ada banyak Facebook yang membenci Kerajaan Dan PM DS Najib Razak dengan perkataan yang tak sanggup nak dibaca walaupun ramai yang menulis tu namanya Melayu Islam. Yang bukan Melayu Islam jangan ceritalah memang tak bertapis lansung bicara kata. Itulah akibat pemimpin terlalu memberi muka dengan hanya kata kunci DEMOKRASI.

Majoriti Rakyat 1Malaysia yang tidak suka dengan cara kekerasan dan maki hamun tetapi mereka malas nak layan. Tiba masanya kita meluahkan rasa hati melalui alam maya melalui Facebook tetapi tidak perlu memaki hamun kerana jika kita buat maka tiada bezanya kita dengan mereka itu;

1. Sokong DS Najib Razak sebagai PM Malaysia
2. 1 Juta Rakyat Malaysia Menyokong Kepimpinan DS Najib
3. 1 Juta Rakyat Malaysia Mahu Ambiga Sreenevasan DiBuang Negara

Kekalkan Malaysia dengan keamanan. Zalim, Rasuah, Pilih Kasih, Kronisme, Media tidak Bebas juga ada di Kerajaan Negri PAKATAN. Jadi apa yang bezanya?? Hanya slogan untuk provokasi rakyat biasa bagi menutup segala kepincangan dalam PAKATAN.

Old White Dogs

I always wondered why after risking our lives on the Pacific Coast Highway for 7 months and 1,700 miles the media really didn’t give a shit and now I know.

Read this article http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-rethinking-muir-20141113-story.html#page=1

Well at least you clarified that for me why we matter so little in your existence.  We’re old white dogs.  

Miles to Go Before I Sleep

Recently my good friend, sous chef (she hates it when I call her that), and the princess of pastries –  Valerie – her dog Sydney went from seemingly happy, healthy, full of life and love to lethargic with loss of appetite. 
An ultrasound Tuesday revealed a 17 cm mass in her spleen with possible liver involvement.  Valerie had to make the heartwrenching decision most of us have had to make but in a fraction of a moment.  Once hemangiosarcoma is suspected, time is of the absolute essence.  
For Sydney, 13 years old though a spirited lass by all accounts, the clock was ticking.  Valerie opted to spare no effort to save her life.  
Her surgeon, Dr. Taylor, successfully performed the splenectomy and a liver lobectomy as well as removing an intestinal tumor that wasn’t evident through the ultrasound and I’m happy to report that Sydney has made it to Day 2 of postoperative care.  Though her status still guarded, hopefully Sydney can go home today and be with her mother.  
Three times I’ve gone through this personally with Malcolm, Murphy, and Hudson and I’ve been by the side of many friends with dogs with cancer.  That is one of my jobs. I awakened early this morning relieved by the promising news of Sydney’s condition but reminded of a poem by Robert Frost.
“Whose woods these are I think I know.   
His house is in the village though;   
He will not see me stopping here   
To watch his woods fill up with snow.   
My little horse must think it queer   
To stop without a farmhouse near   
Between the woods and frozen lake   
The darkest evening of the year.   
He gives his harness bells a shake   
To ask if there is some mistake.   
The only other sound’s the sweep   
Of easy wind and downy flake.   
The woods are lovely, dark and deep,   
But I have promises to keep,   
And miles to go before I sleep,   
And miles to go before I sleep.”
——–
YBD’s Notes 1: I want to thank Valerie for her courage in not only fighting to save her girl’s life against all odds but for allowing me to share Sydney’s story.  She just isn’t able to speak about it yet but she knows I must.  
YBD’s Notes 2:  Nearby is a pic of Sydney with my Puppy Up neck gaiter I gave her to keep her warm.  Isn’t she a beaut?  
YBD’s Notes 3: Perhaps the main reason we got Sydney into the vet before her spleen ruptured is by noticing her distended belly which will be added to our list of early warning signs of cancer.  
YBD’s Notes 4: BTW Sydney is NOT a boy (inside joke).

Scenes from the Roadside 5

Yesterday was the 5 month anniversary of the west coast walk & thought I’d celebrate it with some of the as yet unseen pics – some stunning, some curious and kooky, some downright inexplicable and the rest creepy.  

From today near San Gregorio – yet another dismembered doll which calls into question the sanity of these folks
Tenting amongst moss.  

I dunno but imagine seeing this from a sidewalk in Daly City in the middle of the night.  Should’ve busted him out dammit

Ohhhh the symbolism.  There’s some crazy sh*t in San Francisco 

Uh huh.  Moving on…

Angelica doesn’t think Indy’s a boy. But does she know the glasses don’t match her ensemble?

Well we could’ve taken ‘The Unifried’ bus the rest if the way

These had to have been placed here right?  Someone’s messing w me
Moo cows on the mountainside

I poop on marlboros says this marsupial who must smoke kools 

The sea ranch chapel

West coast girls can’t hold their pee (or pickup the TP) I’ve seen this phenomenon all over in this state & nowhere else
Sleeping in the cuffy cove cemetery for Druids 

puppy up 2014

Indiana and I are back on the road from my brief jaunt up to the northeast to honor my yearly commitment to the folks who make Puppy Up the most successful grass roots organization evah!  Madison CT won the contest last year and their 2014 walk was even bigger and badder, a trend they’ve been setting every year.  From over 300 in 2012 to 600 walkers this year Valerie and her team did an incredible job and it was inspiring to be there although I like to joke that I brought the sunny 70 weather from the west coast.  
               
Puppy Up Malvern
We also timed it so I could attend the inaugural Puppy Up walk at HOPE Veterinary Specialists in Malvern PA the week prior and damn glad we did.  Despite the rainy frigid weather, droves of Phillyers? (Whats the proper demonym?) showed up for the walk and to celebrate the clinic’s 10 year anniversary.  Cheers to Kate Craig and Dennis!
Powerful the day’s events but perhaps the most poignant moment for me was meeting two of the patients in a study we funded.  Teddy and Bynx.  They have a particularly nasty inoperable bladder tumor and both were given a prognosis of 1-2 months.  The Animal Medical Center in Manhattan is working on a more effective delivery system to get chemo to the tumor site and early results are promising.  

Comparative Oncology
Teddy and Bynx have passed the one year survival mark because of this study and if it continues as hoped, Sloan Kettering will start human trials.  Folks this is the crux of comparative oncology.  You can learn more about the types of studies The Puppy Up Foundation funds here.  
Puppy Up New Jersey
After enduring hurricane Sandy, Puppy Up NJ has had to change venues more times than Gov Christie has redirected traffic off the GW.  Just like the boardwalk, our  dear Jude has weathered some storms but she’s still standing strong and this years event was held at Dusty’s Dog House and I’m grateful I had the opportunity to be a part of their walk this year.  
FYI Jude – next time please don’t cry when introducing me cause there’s nothing worse than a dude wearing a skirt gettin all weepy.
YBD
Santa Maria CA
——–
PostScripts 1
It’s sometimes hard to get perspective when youre deep down in it, risking all you have for a cause.  And the west coast walk has put us to the mat many many times so a Puppy Up break was sorely needed.  
I recently read that last year $18.5 billion was doled out by the federal government for renewable energy subsidies and recently $6.2 billion has been earmarked for the ‘Ebola crisis’.  The total budget of the National Cancer Institute in 2014 was roughly $5 billion, which has remained at that level for over a decade.  
Last time I checked  – 1/2 of all men and 1/3 of all women will develop cancer in their lifetime never mind the 2-4 million dogs each year.  Talk about a government so disconnected and resolutely unconcerned with the most immediate threat facing its population.  
Some mornings I just wake up shaking my head asking why?  Why get out of your tent and keep going? I could tell you why I do but being a part of the Puppy Up walks says everything I need to say.
PS2
Have to give a shout out to Madison WI because Beth and Kai had the most awesome walk May this year and the perfect send off to our west coast walk.  Thank you for the boots and I’ll see you next year.  

The Home Stretch

Now that we’re back on the road, here’s an updated schedule:

San Luis obispo November 12
Pismo beach November 13
Santa Maria area* November 14
Santa Barbara November 22
Ventura November 25
Oxnard November 26
Malibu November 29
Santa Monica December 1
LA Area (leaving) December 8
The Final Mile December 14

Planning for the final mile is underway so we’ll post it here soon

Surviving Southern California

Most days I feel like I’m a strange man in a strange land especially since I’m a Texan wearing a skirt for the entire length of the west coast.
We’ve made the coastal turn to the SoCal Bight somewhere around Point Conception, it’s an inflection point – a concavity actually, that naturally delineates between central and Southern California.  
But it’s more than that.  It’s the point at which the cold coastal waters start to warm and the tides begin to downwell.  Too warm for the sweet succulent Dungeness crab.  
The mid afternoon fog banks that roll in almost on schedule to cool us down no more.  Where the sun hovers over the Pacific Ocean all day long and days like today which confuses the hell outta me since there’s gotta be shade at some point throughout the day.  I mean – ‘rise in the east set in the west’ thing I once learned.
The turn also marks the final descent to our seventh month west coast walk.  I write this from our tent, technically in Malibu but only a mile or so south of Neptune’s net where I had my thanksgiving meal – a disastrous tale for another time.
Heck I’m just thankful that we made it this far alive. I recently met a cyclist who travelled most of what we just did save 20 to Newport OR, 154 into SB & a few other crazy dangerous stretches & he said what the hell were you thinking?
Well, we just gotta get to LA was my answer.  Isn’t that the crux of the west coast?  The hub of the hubbub out here?  
We’re almost there – mere days away.  Keep hoping Ellen is there to greet us.  Or at least the kardashians aren’t cuz we’re too tired to turn back.
——–

YBD’s Notes:  I put the last paragraph in there to, in my own way, thank everyone who’ve tried to get us on the Ellen Show.  As I have learned along the way ‘Les chiens ne font pas des chats’. 

Rudy Green’s

Karla, proprietor of Rudy Greens and chef extraordinaire to the dogs, just sent this hilarious video a few weeks back and it stars Teh-De a pit bull we met on our first walk and cancer survivor.  Check it out!

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Cffel7ly3Gg

Also, Karla has been nominated for Martha Stewarts American Made awards – please share on Facebook and Twitter http://www.marthastewart.com/americanmade/nominee/88599/food/rudy-green-incrudy-greens

Hudson’s Cancer Is Back

Hudson’s cancer has returned. Two-fold it seems.  Last week two tumors were taken off him; on the base of his tail the other on his ear.  Path lab report indicates that the former is a neurofibrosarcoma, the latter a grade 2 mast cell.  
And while it’s preliminary pending further testing and consultation with a few oncologists contingencies must be made.  What has made it even more difficult for me, other than being thousands of miles away from him, the lack of cell service on both my AT&T & verizon phone.  The path results were texted to me and I had to use the landline of a grocer in elk CA to learn its scope.  
The walk may be postponed once we reach San Francisco.  As we’re within 130 miles of the Bay Area and planning a few events there, we’re committed to them.  After that, what we learn this week will make a determination.  
What’s particularly disconcerting to me is that there was a 95% probability of no recurrence or metastasis within two years.  It’s been less than one.  
We’ve been tried and tested the entire time on this journey in ways I didn’t foresee, perhaps even unforeseeable.  But what matters now is Hudson.  Indy and I are back on the road tomorrow unsure & uncertain what comes next. 

The Final Five

We’ve walked about 1100 miles in 5 months and only 500 miles remain between the Bay Area and San Diego the finish line.
Cell Phone Hell
This is the place that we’ve been consigned to for the better part of 3 months and 600 miles. 
First my apologies to all of you.  I thought I’d done sufficient due diligence on this west coast walk especially as it pertained to cell coverage.  I surveyed the ATT coverage map & thought we’re all good.  
Bollocks… I might as well have been carrying a pocketful of sand in my kilt rather than my iPhone because it’s been almost as useless.  We finally made it to the Bay Area but what got lost is months of photos, stories, and video sharing.  Never mind the fact it put us at serious risk – there were times I had to ask strangers to contact our team to let them know we were safe.
I’d like to say we’re thru it but of that I am unsure.  The coastal mountain range hasn’t left us or rather we haven’t reached its tail end; Santa Barbara, they say, is where the state flattens out but that’s still 300 miles away. 
And forget about Wifi – the drive thru coastal motels we stay at from time to time may as well be using 128k dial up.  I guess I’m past the point of kvetching but you’ve missed a third of the walk and for that I’m deeply disappointed.
In silence still we walked on.
The Bay Area
There’s still 500 miles of PCH (Pacific Coast Highway) and lots ahead and little time for reflection now.  I’ve been to San Francisco before to walk the final mile with our good friend John Stalls and it’s bittersweet to return.  For new folks to this story it was when and where Murphy’s nose began bleeding again and my descent into doubt that the radiation shrank his nasal tumor.
But I said my goodbye to him on the Golden Gate Bridge and like that iconic symbol of this state, the fog lets go of its fleeting grasp and and the sun shines through. 
The City of Skinny Jeans
Indeed I’ve made many new observations and that’s the first.  Clearly I’m not making any fashion statements with beaded braids, pleated skirt, and giant wooden staff but most nearly everyone here is sportin them and I didn’t want to be the bearer of bad news that they’re about as sexy as bell bottoms.  
……..
One final thought before we get back on the road and grind out the final 500 in 60 days… When we reach the Mexico border the total distance I will have walked combined with the 1st, 1/6th the circumference of the earth for this cause. Put that in a pipe a smoke it. 
Next up more scenes from the roadside
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