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Holiday travelers passing through Denver International Airport last week were treated to a selection of Swing classics by about 100 dancers from the non-profit organization Community-Minded Dance. The performance had been coordinated by the airport’s Art and Culture Program.
Denver, Colorado is home to tens of thousands of stray cats. They form colonies and breed uncontrollably. Destroying or relocating the cats only opens up space for more cats to move in. Local animal welfare groups are trying a different approach, but the job is overwhelming. Kristin Des Marais and Amy Angelilli of the Rocky Mountain Alley Cat Alliance are among those battling the feral cat population problem.
Thirty thousand cats are euthanized every year in Colorado, double the rate of dogs. Many are homeless cats considered unsuitable for adoption. Working with RMACA, Des Marais and other volunteers are trying to reduce the kill rate by trapping ferals, spaying or neutering them, then returning them — in effect, transforming the entire colony from feral to sterile so that it will eventually die out on its own. But trap-neuter-return, or TNR, is a controversial solution, often unpopular with communities afflicted by the colonies.
“More often than not, people will call and say, ‘Come pick up these cats,’” Angelilli explains. “They think we have a special vehicle we drive around and pick up stray cats and bring them to this utopia in the country. If people knew about TNR and why it works — but it needs to start before the population gets out of control. By the time people call us about the problem, they’re usually so fed up that they just want the cats gone.”
David D’Angelo took snapshots of his trip from Denver to Singapore via Chicago, Los Angeles and Tokyo (and back) and stitched them into a mesmerizing 5 minute video clip:
The creator put a ton of effort into filming as much of his trip as possible, and included some highlights like the automatic beer machine at the Tokyo lounge (at 3 minutes 50 seconds).
Gadling has the video clip: Link [embedded Vimeo clip]
Photo: Elizabeth Thomsen [Flickr]
That’s "I See What You Mean," a 40-foot tall blue bear peering into the window of the Colorado Convention Center. The steel and fiberglass sculpture is created by Lawrence Argent:
The artist has described I See What You Mean as a stylized representation of native fauna. As the bear peeks inside the enormous facility at the conventioneers, displacement and wonder pique curiosity and question a greater relationship of art, technology and whimsy.
Link – via Pursuits: Elizabeth Thomsen and Super Punch
