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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, MARcH 1, 2019
CONTACT US
ewilson@dailyastorian.com
(503) 325-3211 ext. 257
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IN ONE EAR • ELLEDA WILSON
‘NOBUNNY KNOWS’
W
ell, it’s time for the Cadbury Bunny Tryouts,
i.e. here’s your shot to feature your pet (no mat-
ter the species) wearing bunny ears and cluck-
ing like a chicken on a reboot of the Cadbury Creme Egg
“Nobunny knows” commercial, which will run at Easter-
time. Some previous contenders are shown, courtesy of
Cadbury.
Just go to bunnytryouts.cadburyusa.com for all the
instructions, photos of contestants that have already
entered, and to read the nine pages (!) of rules.
The first phase is entering a photo of your pet in bunny
ears (real or Photoshopped), and you’d better hustle, as
the deadline is 11:59 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on
Wednesday.
If you think that’s a lot of trouble to go to, keep this in
mind: The first prize is not just a starring turn for your pet
in the commercial, there’s a cash payout of $5,000.
SAVING ROSIE
ORBITING ANGEL
D
id you know Oregon has a famous internet cat
named Zee? Yup, it’s true; she has over 12,000
followers on her Twitter feed, @growingupzee,
which also features her feline roommates.
Since Zee is not much of a typist, her fur-parent, Steve
Munt, of Lake Oswego, does the honors for her, Oxford
commas and all. He is pictured in a photo by Corey
Buchanan, from his article in the Lake Oswego Review
(bit.ly/muntcats)
Zee lives with chronic kidney disease, which was diag-
nosed in 2014, and is often fatal. “I’ve had a blood trans-
fusion, stem cell therapy, and acupuncture,” Zee professes.
“I’m feeling great!” Pikachu, one of Zee’s Twitter appren-
tices, was not as lucky as Zee, and died of kidney disease
in January.
Devastated, Munt decided to have a bit of Pikachu’s
ashes sent up to orbit the earth as a tribute. Accordingly,
he contacted Celestis Memorial Spaceflights, who launch
bits of human cremains “into near-space, Earth orbit, to the
lunar surface or even beyond.” Pikachu’s would be the first
cat ashes to go into orbit, and Munt (and Pikachu’s follow-
ers) can track the satellite.
Pikachu’s rise to the heavens won’t come cheap,
or soon. It’s expected to be “sometime in the next 18
months,” Munt said, and costs about $5,000. There’s even
a GoFundMe account to help pay for it at bit.ly/PikachuFly
“When people ask why I am sending Pikachu to space,
I ask why not,” Zee and Munt posted on Twitter Feb. 3.
“Pikachu will circle the globe as a guardian angel for this
Earth, and shower the world with love.”
A PASSION FOR SHEEP
T
he Tillamook Animal Shelter (@TillamookAni-
malShelter) recently posted on Facebook about the
ordeal of Rosie the dog. It started when her owner
got lost while driving his van in the snow in Tillamook
State Forest.
He hiked out, leaving Rosie behind; fortunately, a para-
medic happened to find him, and he wound up in a hospi-
tal. He was able to give a general area of where his van got
stranded, and mentioned he had left his dog there.
The snow was too deep (2 to 3 feet) for law enforce-
ment vehicles, so paramedic Nick Watts led the charge
to rescue Rosie, and tried reach her twice. He was unsuc-
cessful both times; the snow was too deep, and the weather
iffy. He was worried he wouldn’t get there in time to save
her. Fortunately, he happened to come across Elijah
Arvin, a Tillamook Public Utilities District worker, who
had a Kubota side-by-side that could make the trip, and
asked for his help.
By the time they were finally able to get to her, Rosie
had been starving in the freezing van for two days. She
was immediately transported to Nehalem Animal Heal-
ing, where she was treated for emaciation and dehydra-
tion. Rosie responded quickly.
But what to do with Rosie for the long term? Her old
owner apparently didn’t want her, so the shelter put out
the word that she would need a foster family. But first, one
thing needed to be checked.
“As we do with all dogs, we ran the microchip to see if
it was registered,” the shelter posted on Facebook. “Within
a minute or two of posting the found dog notice on the
microchip page, I got a call. Rosie’s original owner.
“Things had happened, her dog ended up getting
adopted by someone else. She hadn’t stopped hoping that
she would one day see her dog again. So, yesterday Ros-
ie’s family came to take her home.
“Rosie is one happy dog. It took her about a second to
realize she wasn’t just coming out to meet another person.
You could see the wonder in her eyes as she realized her
family had found her. Finally.”
ALL THAT’S LEFT
E
ver wonder what a place would look like in the
aftermath of a catastrophic subduction zone event?
The Ear came across an old NewRepublic.com
story (tinyurl.com/Otsuchipix) featuring images by Argen-
tinian photographer Alejandro Chaskielberg taken a year
and a half after the 2011 Japanese earthquake and tsunami.
He traveled to the fishing village of Otsuchi — where
60 percent of the residential buildings were damaged or
destroyed, and about 10 percent of the population was
killed — and took haunting photos of the residents sit-
ting in what’s left of their former homes (a portion of one
image is shown).
If you ever think you need a reminder to “be prepared,”
just take a look at Chaskielberg’s photos.
THE #PLASTICREVOLUTION
30-foot dhow called The FlipFlopi sailed over 300
miles down the east coast of Africa from Kenya to
Zanzibar, Tasmania, last fall.
Which wouldn’t make the news normally, except it’s
“the world’s very first 100 percent recycled plastic dhow,”
according to the website, theflipflopi.com. Made out of 11
tons of plastic waste and 30,000 repurposed flipflops, its
purpose is to illustrate the potential of reused plastic. The
dhow is shown, courtesy of the website
With The FlipFlipi, “… we simply want to demonstrate
that single use plastic doesn’t make sense,” founder of The
FlipFlopi Expedition, Ben Morison, said. A much bigger
oceangoing vessel is planned to make sure the message is
spread worldwide.
“… We urge you all,” he added, “to join the #plasticre-
volution and make your voice heard!”
A
AN UNLIKELY SIGHT
T
he Ear bets you didn’t know there was a woman in
town recently who’s on an unusual mission. She’s
Jennifer Gunn from Madison, Ohio, who’s been
traveling all over the U.S. and Canada for more than a year
documenting different domestic sheep breeds, according
to LancasterFarming.com in Pennsylvania (bit.ly/gunn-
sheep). Gunn was at a “coffee shop near Astoria,” when
the writer interviewed her by phone for the story.
“I was storm-dodging” in Astoria, she told the Ear. She
actually came to Oregon to see some Polled Dorset sheep
in Scio, the last breed she checked on the North American
segment of what she calls The Great Sheep Expedition (@
jenfindingsheep).
In all, she set out to document all 21 breeds native to
the U.S., and seven in Canada, according to her website
(jenniferagunn.com). She’s covered about 60,000 miles,
and has submitted the sheep breeds’ DNA, fleece, photos
and data to several databases already. But she’s not done,
by any means, since there are over 1,000 domestic sheep
breeds worldwide.
“ … We have met the most amazing people with won-
derful stories of how they became involved in the sheep
world,” she wrote. “Their passion for their sheep and their
way of life is inspiring. I can only hope our little project
can help them in some small way, even if only to share
their stories.”
P
robably one of the last things you’d expect to turn up
50 feet inland on Marajó Island in Brazil is a 26-foot
long dead baby humpback whale. But yet, there it
was (bit.ly/brazilwhale).
According to the wildlife nonprofit group Bicho
D’água (bit.ly/bichowhale), which found it, no one knows
what really happened, but the group thinks the whale got
disoriented, then stranded, and was pushed ashore by high
tides.
The photo shown is courtesy of Bicho D’água.
A normal high tide is more than 23 feet, and recently
there were extra high full moon tides that could easily
have pushed the whale that far inland. Fortunately, whale
strandings are a rare event on the island.
COMMUNITY NOTES
SATURDAY
Sit & Stitch — 11 a.m. to
1 p.m., Homespun Quilts &
Yarn, 108 10th St. Bring knit-
ting, crochet or other nee-
dlework to this community
stitching time. All skill levels
welcome.
Detachment
1228
Marine Corps League —
noon, El Compadre, 119 Main
Ave., Warrenton. For informa-
tion, contact Lou Neubecker
at 503-717-0153.
Columbia Northwestern
Model Railroading Club —
1 p.m., in Hammond. Group
runs trains on HO-scale lay-
out. For information, call Don
Carter at 503-325-0757.
Spinning Circle — 1 to
3 p.m., Astoria Fiber Arts Stu-
dio, 1296 Duane St. Bring a
spinning wheel. For informa-
tion, call 503-325-5598 or go
to astoriafiberarts.org
Whale Spirit Drum Cir-
cle — 7 to 8 p.m. in Seaside;
check WhaleSpirit.com to
confirm location each month
and for information. Open
drum circle. All are welcome,
no drumming experience
necessary. Drum indoors at
the Bob Chisholm Commu-
nity Center, 1225 Avenue A in
Seaside when weather is bad;
outdoors when the weather
is good. A $10 donation is
asked to cover renting the
venue. Extra drums may be
available for those who don’t
have one. Drug and alco-
hol-free event.
SUNDAY
Seniors Breakfast —
9 a.m. to noon, Astoria Moose
Lodge, 420 17th St. Cooked
to order from menu, includes
coffee. Cost is $5 for seniors
62 and older, $7.50 for those
younger than 62. Break-
fasts are open to the pub-
lic. Proceeds after expenses
help support local and other
charities.
Line Dancing — 5:30 to
8 p.m., Seaside American
Legion, 1315 Broadway. For
information, call 503-738-
5111. No cost; suggested $5
tip to the instructor.
MONDAY
Chair
Exercises
for
Seniors — 9 to 9:45 a.m.,
Astoria Senior Center, 1111
Exchange St. For information,
call 503-325-3231.
Grace and Encourage-
ment for Moms — 10 to
11:30 a.m., Crossroads Com-
munity Church, 40618 Old
Highway 30, Svensen. GEMS
group is a time for moms to
relax and enjoy each oth-
ers’ company. Free child-
care is provided. For informa-
tion, call Christina Leonard at
503-298-3936.
Senior
Lunch
—
11:30 a.m., Bob Chisholm
Senior Center, 1225 Avenue
A, Seaside. Suggested dona-
tion $3 for those older than
60; $6.75 for those younger
than 60. For information,
call Suzanne Bjaranson at
503-861-4202.
Columbia Senior Diners
— 11:30 a.m., 1111 Exchange
St. Cost is $6. For information,
or to have a meal delivered,
call 503-325-9693.
AARP Potluck — noon,
Peninsula Senior Activity
Center, 21603 O Lane, Ocean
Park, Washington. For infor-
mation, call 360-665-3999.
Warrenton Senior Lunch
Program — noon, Warrenton
Community Center, 170 S.W.
Third St. Suggested donation
of $6 for seniors and $7 for
those younger than 60. For
information, or to volunteer,
call 503-861-3502 Monday or
Thursday.
Astoria Rotary Club —
noon, second floor of the
Astoria Elks Lodge, 453 11th
St. Guests always welcome.
For information, go to Astori-
aRotary.org
Knochlers
Pinochle
Group — 1 p.m., Bob
Chisholm Community Cen-
ter, 1225 Avenue A, Seaside.
Cost is $1 per regular ses-
sion per person. Players with
highest and second highest
scores split the prize. Game
is designed for players 55
and older, but all ages are
welcome.
Mahjong for Experi-
enced Players — 1 p.m.,
Astoria Senior Center, 1111
Exchange St. For information,
call 503-325-3231.
Line Dancing for Seniors
— 3 to 4:30 p.m., Asto-
ria Senior Center, 1111
Exchange St. Not for begin-
ners. For information, call
503-325-3231.
Astoria Toastmasters —
6:30 p.m., Hotel Elliot con-
ference room, 357 12th St.
Visitors welcome. For infor-
mation, go to toastmasters.
org or call Christa Svensson
at 206-790-2869.
Depression and Bipo-
lar Support Alliance — 7
to 9 p.m., Room A, Colum-
bia
Memorial
Hospital,
2111 Exchange St. Open to
all those diagnosed with
See Notes, Page B4