The casting call went out last January, not to big Hollywood agents but to animal shelters and rescue groups across the country.

Looking for four-legged crooners, black and white, who can get along with others on tour, do the old soft paw on stage, and won’t leap off into the audience when they hear the sound of applause.

Dozens of shelter dogs got the parts for the The 101 Dalmatians Musical including Rascal, a puppy with a broken leg found on the side of the road. Like the others, he has …

Tags: animal cruelty , animals , Broadway , Dalmatians , Disney , dogs , entertainment , family , musicals , pets , rescue dogs , shelters , stage , Styx , theater

Add Comment |

Link to this post |

|

Bookmark

No one growing up during the upbeat, Mattel-directed Sixties figures they’ll be worse off in middle age, forced to scrounge harder for work, buy less, live smaller.

Those Barbie songs my sister and I sang along to in our pink and green room constituted teenage visions of a supercalifragelistic future that we owned, co-starring Dick Van Dyke, four kids, a shiny Lincoln and full-service yacht.

“Here’s a cake, that you and I can make, I’ll share the recipe, if you say yes to me.”

But due to the recession and soaring costs …

Tags: affirmations , aging , birthday , blessings , book clubs , children , conservation , debt , Disney , family , green , jewelry , Life in the Green Lane , luxury , Mary Poppins , menopause , nature , pets , recession , San Francisco

10 Comments |

Link to this post |

|

Bookmark

The Walt Disney Company is telling the world it plans to be greener. It’s recently released an environmental plan; one of the highlights is a goal of halving the company’s carbon emissions from fuels by 2012. Eventually, the organization hopes to have all its offices, retail complexes, theme parks and cruise lines functioning with zero direct greenhouse emissions.

Other goals released include reducing waste and reducing water usage. Presently, much of the 300,000 tons of waste created annually ends up being sent to landfill. Plans are now in the making to ensure that this …

Tags: carbon , Disney , Disneyland , Disneyworld , environment , green , impact , sustainability , Walt Disney

3 Comments |

Link to this post |

|

Bookmark