Rumor Laid To Rest

Ohpuuuhhlease. Jay Bookman is saying it was the paparazzi that killed Bernie's fish when we know it really was Camilla Parker-Bowles.

Aquarium Sunday Afternoon

Had to go pay my respects to dear departed Gasper and Ralph... RIP dudes. You guys were awesome in Atlanta while you lasted, which wasn't very long. Sorry things didn't exactly go, uh, swimmingly for you here.

Fierce beast above does not reside at Georgia Aquarium; rather, she guards my house, a job she takes very seriously.

Note weird yellow scabby stuff on head of one of the Belgugas above. Hope that one's not going to croak soon too. Note new summer purse below found at yard sale yesterday for $5.00. Think I paid too much?

Gasper and Ralph Died For Homer's Sins

And ours too. Naomi A. Rose, a marine mammal scientist for The Humane Society of the United States, blasts the Georgia Aquarium right out of the water in this AJC op/ed.

It is shameful what happened to Ralph and Gasper, those beautiful animals. Shameful. And I am to blame as much as anyone out there. I love the Georgia Aquarium. My kid loves it. I bought into the hype, the spin, and bought an annual membership pass so I could indulge my senses all year long.

So bloggers... should we blog a boycott of the Georgia Aquarium? I am soooo torn. My participation in enslaving beings that should be roaming free is self-serving and deplorable. And it is killing majestic animals. How do I explain this to a child? Or my sushi habit...

HT: PS

Pray For Gasper

Oh dear. It's not looking good for Gasper. I can't bring myself to tell Ava there's a sick Beluga down the street. The Belugas are her favorite part of the aquarium.

Now I've seriously got to sneak down there to get a Beluga for her stocking. She wanted one soooo bad, having patted a fluffy white thing most longingly at the HUGE gift shoppee on your way out of the aquarium. (We've since been using the upstairs exit so you can bypass the gimme shop.)

Aquarium Sundays

I was wary of the Georgia Aquarium (a non-profit, that's why it's a dot org), not because of touristy overkill, or as an aqua-ode to Bernie Marcus, whom I adore anyway having working for him for many years, but rather that I'd gotten a negative vibe for aquariums since one was a setting where the morally vapid characters in the movie Closer would act-out their manipulative, twisted little sex crimes on each other.

But since the Georgia Aquarium is just down the street and I discovered it to be a wondrously meditative environment for a grownup (even with hundreds of other people crowding you) and an hours-long delight for a six-year old, I broke down and bought an annual pass. Several visits later, I've almost gotten over the sensation that I'll turn a corner and find Clive Owen creeping about.