Wednesday, February 09, 2005

International Lovah - part Ni

My global fame grows apace. Or, at least, the opportunity to be an international famewhore. Today I got an invitation to teach a workshop in San Francisco (possibly good - can't beat a tax-deductible trip to the city by the bay) and the following request which was... just strange.

In an email from a producer in LA, I was asked to appear on a show called "Genius! Mr. Shimura's Animal Land" on Nippon TV network. That's right - the foreign, sometimes delightful and sometimes horrifying world of Japanese TV. It seems that Mr. Shimura is a well-known actor/comedian in Japan. His house was robbed while he was away last month, and he would like me to communicate with his golden retriever and miniature dachshund to get information on the suspect and details of the robbery. Not only did the producer want to interview me in the US, but to bring me to Japan and - this is the kicker - air a dramatic re-enactment with an actor playing me. Yeah.

If that's not enough to make one bubble up with nervous laughter, I don't know what is. Not that I don't think the dogs might have some good input on the situation. It's that a) good luck on finding a professional animal communicator of some worth who is willing to get themselves into a situation where they can so easily be made to look like a big ass and b) it just doesn't work that way. Even on the off chance that I could get beyond the dogs' reactions of fear and what they most likely saw of the invader (shoes and legs), it's unlikely I'll get a clear enough facial description to go on. Plus, I don't know about Japanese courts, but the odds are close to none that such evidence in a US investigation would ever be considered. Then again, their culture is very different. Who knows?

Fortunately, I was spared the decision by their desire to find someone who had already solved at least one criminal case this way, which took me out of the running. I sent a nice letter back but, although visions of a possible expenses-paid trip to Tokyo danced in my head, I can't say I was sorry to say no. I'll leave it to some other animal communicator with greater confidence or worse judgment to field this one. I have to say, however, that I'm curious to see the results, if it gets filmed.

Anyone out there ever seen that show?

Tuesday, February 08, 2005

International Lovah

That's me. Or rather, international animal lover. Long time no blog, because I've been quite busy with both of my jobs for the last few weeks. Days have meant testing, fixing and re-testing the company's Website, and nights and weekends have been spent conversing with animals across the globe.

Yea, across the globe because, since the London Times article came out and my bid to get my Website listed higher on search engines, I've been getting inquiries from all over. This past week, for instance, I spoke with a bunch of budgeriars in Bangalore and a delightful cat spirit in Amsterdam. I've also been assigned the task by one of my long-standing feline clients of writing his life story (don't ask).

So, although I have been thinking of doing creative writing and some blogging here, I haven't had the time, especially as I try not to mix the stuff that should go on my business site with the stuff that ends up here. This doesn't jibe with my goal to write more creative stuff and promote my blog, but it does jibe with my goal to promote my business, be professionally respected and do some writing in that area. So... one and a half out of three ain't bad?

Anyway, if you've stopped by, which would probably be a surprise on my part and an accident on yours, howdy! I'm sorry there's not much here that's current. But, there's always tomorrow, so stop by again.