December 3, 2013: It’s time to Rally the Troops!

For some good causes:

Blog regular PBMom needs our support.  She writes: “As most of you know, Patrick’s autism school is a 501(c)3 charitable organization (translation–tax write-off). I am always in competition with the Armenta family to try to beat their campaign (never quite do it). Last year was kind of sad in terms of fundraising. The previous year I was able to raise over $1000 for Including Kids. So if you guys feel like you might want to help them, I have a little write up about things Patrick has accomplished just this year. Also have a link to the story our local Fox 26 Houston station did last Christmas as a follow-up to their original story 5 years prior. The news story really gives you a visual of how far he has come since then. Every tiny bit can help. I was thinking that if my 700 FB friends and my 2000+ followers on Twitter all gave $5, I could raise $13,000 for the school. But I know that is not reality. I’d just be happy if I could meet the goal of $1000. Here is the link:

http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/hildabowen/fallintogiving

Another great cause is Director T. J. Scott’s “In the Tub”, a project that saw him photograph 150+ celebrities “stripped down and in a tub” for Breast Cancer Research.  T.J. financed the shoot himself and all of the models posed for free.  The photographs have been collected in a book (titled “In the Tub” – what did you think?) and proceeds from sales will be donated to UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Research Center.  So far, $120 000 has been raised in pre-sales.  Head on over here (https://inthetubbook.com) to learn more about the project and place your orders.  Bathing beauties include Elyse Levesque, Kandyse McLure, and my good friend Tara Yelland.  Oh, and some guys too.

Another cause, this one dog-related.  A family in Seattle is trying to raise money to help get the word out about their missing bulldog, Deuce, who went missing from his yard in October.

The gofundme link is here: http://www.gofundme.com/5kslm8

And the Facebook page is here: https://www.facebook.com/deucepodhola.

Another good cause – but this time, in reverse.  You can help by doing nothing.  More specifically, avoid shopping on kleargear.com and get the word out for others to follow suit.  The reason?   This purported $47 million dollar a year company fined some unhappy customers $3500 for writing a negative review about their crappy experience dealing with the kleargear.com, then reported them to at least one credit agency when they didn’t pay up, negatively impacting their credit rating.  ”KlearGear (…) has yet to comment on the case and has locked down its Twitter and Facebook accounts in the face of a barrage of criticism.”  http://www.digitaltrends.com/web/kleargear-fines-couple-3500-negative-review/  Help put these bullies in their place by taking your business elsewhere.

A mini mailbag:

JeffW writes: “Unfortunately, as of now there is no man-made replacement for cartilage, so after I heal from this, it will be whatever it is.”

Answer: A stem cell treatment might help (Stem cell therapy to repair damaged knee cartilage – Science Daily).  Sadly, illegal for humans in your area, but quite legal here for my dog Jelly who benefited greatly.

atlantis-t.v.ru writes: “Rush is villain. Wait, wha?!”

Answer: I included some anti-heroes who definitely walk the line, individuals like The Shield’s Vic Mackey and Tony Soprano.  Rush has his good points but he is definitely self-serving, and some of his actions were…let’s call them somewhat unethical.  Remember when he tried to frame Young for murder?

PBMom writes: “@Joe Clarification: What is the cut-off for “early pickup?” for Lawren’s game? Would Blacklist pickup be considered “early?” Just so I know how to score it.”

Answer: Not sure.  Are you our official score-keeper?

Randomness writes: “The Blacklist just got renewed Joe. No surprises there, great show, pulling fantastic numbers. It’s adding over 6 million live viewers, + over 2.1 18-49 ratings points in the Live + 7, when you add ontop of its live audience the show is getting well over 16 million viewers an episode.”

Answer: Wow.  I remember a time when networks didn’t care about Live + 7.

Tagged: Bring Deuce Home, In the Tub, Including Kids, kleargear, T.J. Scott