Holiday Reminder: Dogs and Chocolate Warning

If you're a dog owner, you're probably aware of the fact that chocolate can be highly toxic and even fatal if ingested by your pet. The specific ingredient that can wreak havoc with a dog's digestive system is a family of compounds known as methylxanthines. Two of these compounds, caffeine and theobromine, are found in varying amounts in chocolate.

While it's up for debate just HOW lethal these substances are to dogs, experts agree that some dogs are especially sensitive to the compounds while others seem to be able to take in larger amounts and suffer little or no negative effects, mostly depending on the weight of the dog and the type of chocolate. Baker's chocolate is very high in theobromine, while milk chocolate, which is more commonly found in holiday favorites like chocolate bunnies is less dangerous. When I was younger, my family dog, Bootsy, got into an Easter basket and ate the better part of a chocolate bunny, seemingly without suffering any ill effects. She wasn't especially large and was a mixed breed, so toxicity may depend on other factors as well.

Symptoms of chocolate poisoning include vomiting, diarrhea or hyperactivity which can come on very quickly or take several hours to appear. In severe cases, this can be followed by This can lead to hyperthermia, muscle tremors, seizures, coma and even death.

If you suspect chocolate poisoning, it's important to administer first aid to you pet as soon as possible. Steps include inducing vomiting and feeding them an activated charcoal slurry, which absorbs the toxins. More detailed instructions can be found here.

And here are some additional resources:

An interactive dog and chocolate toxicity chart from National Geographic

Scientific American article on dogs and chocolate: fact vs. fiction

Happy Easter, Passover, and belated Vernal Equinox!

2012 Chicago NATO summit

So your brother's bound and gagged And they've chained him to a chair Won't you please come to Chicago just to sing In a land that's known as Freedom How can such a thing be fair Won't you please come to Chicago for the help that we can bring?

-Graham Nash "Chicago"

This May, Chicago will be host city for the 2012 NATO summit. It will mark the first time a NATO summit in the U.S. has been held outside Washington. Depending upon which source you reference, the three-day event will be met with either peaceful, family-friendly marches or will be a powder keg of potential violence.

In any case, given that this is an election year, and Chicago is seen as the hometown of President Obama, all eyes will be on the city, much as they were on election night, 2008, when President-elect Obama delivered his historic victory speech from Grant Park. Counter-NATO organizers are taking to social media sites to whip up support among their members and Fraternal Order of Police President Mike Shields estimates the number of protesters likely to convene in the city at upwards of 40,000. The first permits for protests during the summit have already been issued. So Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel is taking extra precautions to ensure that the protests that DO occur are peaceful and any potential violent disruptions are headed off swiftly. The police force is undergoing riot baton training and ordering protective gear including over $190,000 for new state-of-the-art face shields.

With the potential for violent protests and strong reaction from law enforcement, there will surely be comparisons to Chicago's 1968 Democratic national convention, which was marked by violent clashes between antiwar protesters and then Mayor Richard J. Daley's police force. As the politician's convened, live televised images of bloody and beaten protesters being hauled off in paddy wagons tarnished both Daley's and Chicago's reputation in the years that followed.

However things play out this May in Chicago (and let's hope they remain peaceful), there are sure to be large crowds and strong opinions, which always makes for good sketching opportunities. I plan on being there with my drawing pad. If anyone cares to join in, drop me a line.

Chicago "L" crash 35th anniversary

Here's a short animated film I made about Chicago's iconic "L" (short for "elevated" ) commuter train system.

On Feb. 4th, 1977, 35 years ago today, during the busy evening rush hour, two trains collided due to human error. Three train cars completely derailed and fell 20 feet to the busy street below. When it was over, 11 people were dead and over 180 were injured. Though there have been other derailments in the L's long history, several of which are recounted here, none were as deadly as the 1977 incident. I was a student in the western suburbs and had only ridden the "L" a few times in my life when I heard the news and saw pictures of the derailment. Since that day, I've ridden the "L" countless times to State & Lake, the stop just before the sharp bend in the tracks where the trains plunged to the ground. Viewing the actual scene of the accident, it's surprising to me that there weren't even more casualties.

You can read more about the 1977 "L" derailment here and here and read of the survivors' first-hand accounts here.

Happy "Ditch your New Year's Resolutions Day"!

"Now is the accepted time to make your regular annual good resolutions. Next week you can begin paving hell with them as usual." -Mark Twain

By now, many of us have strayed from our intended New Year's goals a bit, but are still determined to make 2012 the year that we overcome our vices or improve ourselves in some way. On a hopeful note, one study found that people who explicitly make New Year's resolutions are 10 times more likely to attain their goals than people who don't make resolutions.  STAY STRONG!

Into the Twilight Zone

This past weekend, while others rang in the New Year with parties and Bowl games, I entered a dimension not only of sight or sound, but of mind. My daughter alerted me to the Syfy network's "Twilight Zone" marathon early on NewYears Eve and from that point on I was hooked. Though I'm by no means a Twilight Zone expert, over the years I've seen the show seemingly countless times, so I was surprised to find that some of the episodes this go-around were new to me.

Of course the entire series is the brainchild of the ultra cool and stern narrator Rod Serling, who wrote most of the stories and opens each episode with a wry introduction. The series began in the late 50's, and just as Playboy magazine was redefining the girlie magazine, Serling, who comes across as "Hef's" more cerebral alter ego, brought the "bug-eyed monster" sci-fi genre from the pulp comics store into mainstream living rooms. The stories endure, despite low budgets and (by today's standards) cheesy special effects, because of the deep psychological insights that Serling brought to them. He also addressed controversial topics and contemporary hot button issues such as the Holocaust, nuclear war, and racial inequality.

Though "The Twilight Zone" only ran for five seasons, there were a stunning 156 episodes in total, 96 of which were written or co-written by Serling. Two of them, "It's a Good Life", which features child star Billy Mumy as a spoiled kid with terrifying mental powers, and "To Serve Man", in which earthlings are lured to an alien planet only to discover that they're to be "served" as food, were cited as being among TV Guide's "100 Greatest Episodes of All Time". So it's no wonder that I find it difficult to pick a personal favorite episode. Still, here are a couple that stand out for me:

LoisNettleton

"The Midnight Sun": NYC apartment tenant Norma (played by Oak Park, IL native Lois Nettleton) struggles to remain optimistic and cheerful despite the fact that the Earth has left its orbit and is plunging ever nearer to the sun. She finally collapses in fear and despair. (SPOILER:) In a twist on the "it's only a dream" ending, a relieved Norma awakes from her nightmare oblivious to the news that the doomed earth is actually RETREATING from the sun.

The recent Lars von Trier film "Melancholia"has a similar theme of people trying to keep it together in the face of impending celestial doom.

"The Dummy": Cliff Robertson stars as Jerry, a ventriloquist with problems. Besides battling alcohol, he's convinced that his creepy and malevolent dummy, Willie, is controlling his mind and his act. When Robertson resolves to replace Willie with a more docile costar, things get out of hand. As a kid, I was thoroughly weirded out by ventriloquist dummies, which I managed to overcome through immersion therapy when I asked and received one from Santa one Christmas. Still, this episode brings back those unsettling feelings, and the final scene, which features a role reversal with the doll/ventriloquist looking directly at camera, is unforgettably eerie.

So now that the "Twilight Zone" marathon has concluded, I wonder whether a new series of half hour sci-fi stories could be as successful today. The Twilight Zone was resurrected for a three season run in the late 80's and Serling himself hosted the series Night Gallery from 1970-73, which centered more on horror/fantasy stories, but neither attained the cult status and reputation of the classic Twilight Zone series. I'm sure there are many talented writers who could share the duties of scripting some incredible stories. As I see it, the main challenge would be wowing today's audiences accustomed to lavish sets and production values, something hard to attain with "one-off" characters and situations.

For a complete online list of the original Twilight Zone episodes along with brief descriptions, see "The Croc's Domain: Original Twilight Zone Episode Guide".

So what's your favorite episode? Comments and thoughts welcome.