:D NON-ROMANTICS LEAVE NOW (OR AT LEAST GET YOUR GIGGLE ON) :D

Dear Friends .,.

Having lost what I found here - that Allspark which I'd never had and never even dared dream of - that which was most precious ... it is time for me to fly. So, reluctantly, I have resigned my editorships in the hope that they may bring new joy elsewhere. I will miss the friends I have made here far more than some silly titles, however - far, far more. Thank you all from the bottom of my aching, empty heart. Keep Rockin'! This is Johnny Rhythm sayin' "G'night to ya's all and God Bless ya's" .,. Peace Out and ...

May God bless and keep you always

May your wishes all come true

May you always do for others

And let others do for you

May you build a ladder to the stars

And climb on every rung

May you stay forever young ...

Bob Dylan

ALL MY LOVE, ALL MY HEART, FOREVER AND ALWAYS, ANGEL

If you're travelin' in the north country fair

Where the winds hit heavy on the borderline

Remember me to one who lives there

For she once was a true love of mine

If you go when the snowflakes storm

When the rivers freeze and summer ends

Please see for me she's wearing a coat so warm

To keep her from the howling winds

See for me if her hair hangs long

If it rolls and flows all down her breast

Please see for me if her hair's hangin' long

For that's the way I remember her best

I'm a-wonderin' if she remembers me at all

Many times I've often prayed

In the darkness of my night

In the brightness of my day

So if you're travelin' in the north country fair

Where the winds hit heavy on the borderline

Remember me to one who lives there

For she once was a true love of mine

Bob Dylan (Girl From The North Country)

The little six-year-old girl desperately wanted a kitty and so the Gleason's searched for one who could get along with the family dog. Unfortunately, none of the rescue shelter cats they tried was compatible. "We prayed that we would find a nice cat that liked our dog, and a few days later, he just showed up at our front door," the mom said. It appeared that, like an answer to a prayer, Tommy was adopting them.

Today, however, Tommy's 6-year-old companion is grief stricken. At least 19, and perhaps as many as three dozen of our feline friends in the Miami, Florida area were murdered and mutilated by a mysterious serial cat killer (or killers). "Part of his skin was missing underneath ... and part of his legs," the little girl's mom said, "he was partially skinned." Local police reported that Tommy's sadistic demise was related to a string of recent feline murder-mutilations. While revealing that some of the dead cats were found "posed", Miami-Dade County Police spokesperson Bobby Williams, in an obvious understatement, acknowledged that anyone capable of such cruelty "is disturbed at some sort of level." The mom, Donna Gleason, reacted understandably : "... to know that this happened right in front of your house, while you're sleeping inside. I'm not terrified, but I'm not sleeping as well as I used to." As for her daughter, Donna said : "She loved him and played with him every morning. ... She just misses him. We told her that Tommy was killed by an animal ... Well, an animal did kill him."

A $10,000 reward was posted and police advised people to keep their cats inside. Still the gruesome string of killings continued, some of the murders taking place in broad daylight. Even a police officer's cat wasn't safe. "Everyone in the neighborhood knows it's a police officer's house. Another police officer lives right across the street. It's just crazy someone has the nerve to do this," resident Michael Miller told local news reporter Jen Herrera. "It's scary. I've got three cats. I think the whole thing is absolutely bizarre," added Robert Holley, "I can't believe somebody can cruise up and down or not be seen as suspicious. It's really eerie." "What it did was it took away my security," said Ruby Jenkins, whose cat, Vagrant, was victimized. "The day after I just sat in there with the windows closed, the blinds closed." When one of Wayne Edwards' cats was found mutilated, he began a neighborhood patrol : "I patrol. There's another lady that patrols with me. We take turns. I'm going to find him. If they don't find him, I will." The reward for information was raised to $12,000.

On June 14, police arrested an unemployed 18-year-old : Tyler Hayes Weinman - immediately giving a black eye to skateboarders and marijuana users everywhere. Said Miami-Dade Commissioner Katy Sorenson : "And what of the perpetrator, depraved, demented, twisted; who knows what went into this kid's thought process as these crimes were committed?" Placed under police surveillance after several phone tips, Weinman, who was charged with multiple counts of animal cruelty (with intent to kill) and burglary, faces up to 158 years in prison if convicted on all counts. According to Cutler Bay Mayor Paul Vrooman, not everyone was outraged : "I read a blog post this morning from one misguided poster who said he actually supported these acts because cats were a nuisance to him. To anyone who shares that opinion let me make ... clear that cruelty is inhuman no matter what form it takes. The cruelty of these crimes (was) horrific for the animal victims - but there were many human victims as well. Let's not forget the children and families who found their pets mutilated, these awful wounds inflicted a human toll."

Within days, Tyler was fitted with an electronic monitoring ankle bracelet and released for "home confinement", although he was allowed to stay with relatives because of fears for his safety. As police investigated whether or not Tyler was part of a "ring", his father defended him: "We are cat owners ourselves. We love our pets ... We certainly understand the grief that other cat owners are going through, and we sympathize with them, but it is not our son ... We've seen him play with our pets for years ..." In the meantime, however, the grisly series of murder-mutilations appears to have abated. Young Mr. Weinman is due in court for arraignment on Monday (July 6).

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

DCat here, folks. :D While, of course, you humans have the right to judge one of your own kind, we cats would like to point out that, if allowed, we can protect ourselves. Just down the road at the Miami Metro Zoo, some of our cousins have graciously volunteered to help ...

Specifically, I refer to Palenque and Reina, the lovely Jaguar couple. Reina, the female, is particularly anxious to invite the guilty party (or parties) over for a little game of "Let's See Who Mutilates Who". The playful couple know how much it costs to care for them, and they would welcome the opportunity to spare the State of Florida the incredible expense of an extended incarceration ...

Now, if that reasonable offer is looked upon unfavorably, I would like to offer myself as an alternative. I must admit to a recurring dream of running into the killer(s) being transported to that "undisclosed location". Remember the rule, anything not nailed down is a cat toy:

I have read with great interest the comments made recently by many all over the site : in blogs, pm's, forums - the disquieting disappointment seems to be rampant and widespread. I have heard lowly newbies, mid-level climbers and high-rollers who have poured their hearts and souls into making this a great place for TV lovers to come and visit and be with friends - all share a love of the site and a desire to see it succeed. But there appear to be those who don't listen to the wind, those who "know" by some mysterious process of magical divination what is "best" for the rest of us, those that are above the work that we, the workers, do and the genuinely wise experience gained by senior editors who have made tens of thousands of submissions, written hundreds of thousands of words and spent countless hours working for our benefit.

Both the new show page and episode pages are now dysfunctional atrocities. And, admittedly it's a small thing, but just why was it necessary for the editors to lose their crowns? Unlike staff, they don't get paid. Was it that necessary, that important to take away the one thing they get for all their hard work and sacrifice - and just who was it necessary for and important to?

The elegant, functional and informative Episode Overview we had has been replaced by a sterile field of white and a sea of ads and listings which confuse the eye and have nothing to do with the episode itself. Cast, Crew, Notes, Trivia, and Allusions are now gone from sight and lost to easy access. Those listings, along the information they contained and the links embedded in them, served both the casual visitor and the working editor by being 'up front and personal,' not buried in multiple back pages. And what was the point of adding even more links if the new design was only going to hide them anyway? Why have the Episode Lists and Guides apparently lost the ability to display both show total and seasonal episode numbers, information which can be critical to working editors? Certainly, it must be said that the original bevy of flaws was much larger, and thankfully, several early mistakes have been rectified; but one wonders why this "new look", if necessary, wasn't better designed in the first place?

Anyone who's read my posts before knows that I prefer to be positive and abhor being rude or critical, but I'm getting there. Why should my job, and the jobs of all editors, be tougher to do because of decisions neither they, nor apparently even the site MODS, had any input on? Do the people who made these absurd decisions actually have show guides of their own to work? Perhaps that's the real problem here. Every single change effecting work and process should first be run by a committee of senior, experienced editors who are still actively working shows - the people who have been devoted to this site since its bloody inception. Please, enough already with the stylistic dilettantes and their sterile, counter-intuitive nonsense ...

As anyone who knows knows, I'm not much on blogging (and not very good at it). But, as I reach my two year anniversary here at TV.com, I feel a strong need to thank some wonderful folks and great friends who have helped me to stay on board and make it to this point. As they each know, all too well, I can ask way too many questions (i.e. I can be a real pain in the ...). The short notes next to their names fail to do them justice and certainly don't explain how much their friendship and help have meant to me. There are many walls, mine fields and secret password mysteries to confound newbies here at TVdotcomland. These folks, however, are some of the beacons and bridges. I only wish I knew better how to express my profound gratitude and thanks to each one of them .,. :)

As those four fabulous lads from Liverpool sang so long ago : I get by with a little help from my friends.

Beacons and Bridges [In the order of appearance (more-or-less)]

Kristhetvgirl2

A simply wonderful Canadian lady who encouraged an often confused and discouraged newbie, showing him more patience than he ever could've expected.

danbambridge

A warm and friendly English person (I love everything English) who has magical powers and shares his time and knowledge with mere mortals like me.

more_ncis_now

Another wonderful English person (did I mention ...) who has patiently initiated me into the mysteries of the eternal guide wars, and so very much more.

lowriderz95s10

A fellow sci fi freak and baseball fan who trusted my work, allowed me to grow and helped me out with great tips and pointers, answering many questions along the way.

angelandspike

A wondrous Texas neighbor who went way beyond the call and showed great patience in helping me to get Shadowfax (my computer) to play well with TV.com's server when I first became an editor.

m00nshadow

My first and best-est friend encountered here at TV.com (and we all know one can never have enough real friends to support you and keep you in line). We are learning the ropes together ...

Well, as anyone who's been here before knows, I don't do blog (no offense to those of you who do). And they say that if you don't do something often, you won't do it well, so ... Anyway, it's been impressed upon me that I should've blogged (who came up with that word and what does it mean, anyway? It sounds like someone has eaten bad meat or something ... sorry, back to your regularly scheduled programming) an announcement when I first became an editor, and the second time as well! So, here goes :

I am humbled to have become an editor, twice over now (all right, all you people with 50-odd shows, stop laughing so hard, you'll hurt yourselves). I am now caring for two great shows which would seem to have little in common : Maverick, a great comedic/anti-hero western from the 1950's, light-years ahead of its time; and Spectacle : Elvis Costello with ..., a music/interview show rapidly becoming the best of its genre, with a guest list that continues to amaze week after week :D ...

Maverick : Western Channel [Mon-Fri (9 AM, 6 & 7 PM, EST) All Different Episodes]

Spectacle : Elvis Costello with ... : Sundance Channel [Wednesday (9 pm, EST)]

As neither of these shows is BIG, we don't get a lot of traffic, so (big drum roll, please) "Come On Down!" There are two conveniently located links just below this advert. Again, as we are not overcrowded by any means, your presence will be cherished. Feel free to kick the tires, browse around, comment in the forums, write a review, whatever makes you happy. If you wish to pm me with any complaints, suggestions or bribes - express yourself freely (for bribes, I'll send you my Cayman bank account number straight on, before you can come to your senses) :lol: ...

Well, that's it. All you experienced blogaholics, feel free to let me know how I could've done this thing better (except for the bad attitude part, I've already been told about that) .,.

Elvis Costello: Rosanne, you've been writing a ...

Roseanne Cash: Blog.

Elvis Costello: No, I won't say it.

Roseanne Cash: Okay.

Elvis Costello: You can't force me.