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Matching entries from B.L. Ochman's blog
Reebok's naked workout video: just a bare attempt to create buzz?
Is it fake, like the infamous fake Puma ads simulating oral sex back in 2003? Or is the Reebok video featuring a naked Chuck Liddell and his girlfriend, Heidi Northcutt, working out in nothing but Reeboks an off-color joke produced by the company itself. The goal of this type of advertising is to find a way to get people to talk about your brand in today's mind-bogglingly crowded media landscape. The usual next step in the game (dubbed sub-viral marketing way back in 2002) is for the company to demand that those who spread the word cease and desist. Sub-viral strategy: risky at best It's a risky strategy at best because it can result in millions of dollars worth of free publicity or it can backfire. Frankly, the new Reebok ad, doesn't seem interesting enough to have much, umm, staying power. Brands including Budweiser, Ford, Levi's and Mastercard have been accused of producing their own sub-viral ad campaigns and unleashing their PR firms to spread the word about them. Sometimes, the ads are carefully shot to look like they were done by amateurs, sometimes they are painstakingly made to look like the company's real ads. Engineering a fake Online parody...
Bella Abdog Marino: RIP, Nov. 20, 2007
Bob Marino, president of NYC Dog led the successful campaign to legalize off-leash hours in New York parks so dogs can socialize and exercise together. Today Bob lost his extraordinary Bella Abdog to cancer. I have been there, and it hurts like hell. Bella has been his constant companion for 11 years. The two of them: great huge Bella with her gentle soul, and Bob with his endless supply of treats for every dog they encountered, have been inseparable. Love to you Bob, and thank you for everything you've done to make New York one of the top 10 dog-friendly cities in the world. Bob told me in email: "I would like to start a campaign to raise funds to get a tree planted in Central Park that would be a memorial tree for all dogs lost... we could hang a pic of our dog when s/he passes and at the holiday, photos of all dogs lost that year would be hung." I love that idea. I'll be happy to help. I want to share with you part of Bob's message to members of NYC Dog. It's as lovely a Thanksgiving message as you'll hear anywhere:...
Woof! NYC Dog Owners Win Total Victory
Woof woof! We won! It's finally official - the courts and the Parks Department has granted total victory to New York City dog owners by making the 9 pm to 9 am off-leash policy official. Tens of thousands of dog owners banded together, lawyers and many others donated many hours of their time, and we beat those dog haters fair and square. Woof!...
Benny Bix Shows His Brother Wallace What Off-Leash Is About
Click to Play Here's Benny Bix Ochman Labradoodle and his kid brother, Wallace, five months old, on Wallace's first off leash romp in Central Park. Benny's buddy, Hobbs, joined the romp. Yes, they did come back. Here's Wallace. They're both sons of the fabulous multi-gen Labradoodles, Mr. and Silk from West Orchard Labradoodles, who'll have new puppies in two weeks. But Wallace is a lot more mellow than my wild child. The two had a blast in the park this weekend, when they met for the first time....
Puppy Power! We Won the NYC Off-Leash Law Suit
WE WON IN COURT!!! Dogs will continue to run free in New York City parks. The leash loonies lost their case - totally. Bob Marino, president of NYC Dog, announced in email that "Judge Peter J. Kelly issued an opinion in Juniper Park Civic Association, Inc. v City of New York denying the petition in its entirety and affirming the authority of the Park's Department to allow off-leash time for dogs in City Parks. It is a total victory for City Parks and NYCDOG." Writing about the issue in an OpEd piece in the NY Times on Monday, (sub required) author Jonathan Safran Foer beautifully described the joy of starting one's day with one's dog running free in a beautiful park: "My morning walk with George is very often the highlight of my day — when I have my best thoughts, when I most appreciate both nature and the city, and in a deeper sense, life itself. Our hour together is a bit of compensation for the burdens of civilization: business attire, e-mail, money, etiquette, walls and artificial lighting. It is even a kind of compensation for language. Why does watching a dog be a dog fill one with happiness?...
Benny Bix Ochman Labradoodle Needs Your Help
Today is the final day to sign a petition and send an email to the NYC Dept of Health to save off-leash hours in New York City Parks for New York's dogs. Please, please, please go to NYC Offleash and help Benny and his buds. It's easy, it's quick, and today's the last day before a public hearing on the issue. You don't have to have a dog to vote or send an email. Just a heart....
Update: Leash Loonies Vs. NYC's Voting Dog Owners
A summary of the court battle on the leash loonies vs.a few million New York City dog owners regarding off-leash priviliges in City Parks is here. Fox News coverage is here The only scary creature I see is Bob Holden, head of the Juniper Park Civic Association, who is said to be a City Council wanna be. There may be other parks that are crowded in the mornings, but Central Park and Prospect Park aren't among them. That's Benny Bix Ochman Labradoodle and a couple of his buddies disturbing the peace in Central Park during off-leash hours. My, what scary puppies!...
A Dog's Life, On Trial vs. Leash Loonies
Photo, Kay Schrenk Tomorrow, leash loonies will have their day in court when Justice Peter Kelly hears agruments in their suit against NYC Parks Department to end the early morning and late night off-leash courtesy hours that dogs and ttheir owners have enjoyed in City parks for the past 20 years - including in dog runs. (Courtroom 24, Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of Queens) The real issue isn't dogs. As usual, it's politics. And power. Bob Holden, head of the Juniper Park Civic Association, and a member of his local community board - and who has higher political aspirations - and his group have offered to end the suit if the Parks Department cedes control of parks to local community boards. So it's just another bullshit political power play, with 1.4 million dog owners caught in the middle. Obviously, Benny Bix Ochman Labradoodle puppy and I have an emotional, health and social stake in this issue. But this NY TImes Op Ed piece by Ted Kerasote has a pretty balanced view: "If they have access to parks that allow off-leash recreation, their dogs run and play with other dogs, burning off pent-up energy. In addition,...
Straight Pin-Laced Chopped Meat Eaten By Dog in Central Park. Sicko Hunted
Central Park PAWS and the New York Council of Dog Owner Groups have alerted dog owners that on the morning of August 9th the owner of a Labrador Retreiver walking in Central Park saw her dog eating from a brown paper bag that has been tied with ribbons and left in the lawn. It proved to contain chopped meat a beef tongue stuck fill of straight pins and hat pins. Though severely injured by more than 30 ingested pins, thanks to the efforts of a caring veterinarian, the dog, Milo, will survive. (Both organization's statements are below.) UPDATE: The Daily News reports this morning that the dog, Milo, an 80-pound, six year-old Black Lab, survived and is recovering at home thanks to a great vet, Dr. Andrew Kaplan at City Veterinary Care on W. 72nd St.. (named Best Vet in New York 2006 by in NY Magazine.) In a statement issued tonight, the Parks Department's Parkwide Supevisor, Melanie Alfonso, instructs dog owners: "If something like this should happen to your pet, [or if you see someone behaving suspiciously] please call 311 and ask to be connected with Parks Enforcement Patrol (PEP). You should also notify me at 212 628 1036...
Huge Manhattan Fire and Explosion Felt Two Miles Away
The scene: Monday morning, 8:30 a.m., Central Park. BennyBix Ochman Labradoodlepuppy is off-leash and instead of playing, he is sitting at full attention in one spot and staring up at the sky, into the distance, into the sky again. He doesn't respond to voice, food, toys, or his dog buddies. Then the sirens start: police, fire, ambulance. I know the sounds so well, like anyone in New York City. And the sound went on for way too long to be just a routine emergency. The sirens were wailing for half an hour. I could smell smoke that turned out to be almost two miles away. Nobody but me, the lone 911 survivor in the group, seemed the least bit bothered, except my puppy. When it was time to leave the park, Benny wouldn't leave. His tail was between his legs and he was totally spooked, pulling back in a clear panic. I practically had to carry him out of the park. Another dog, and then another, had the same reaction. What was spooking them? It was this. The dogs must have felt the explosion....
City Sued to End ALL Off-Leash Priviliges for Dogs
This is a post about a group of leash reactionaries in Queens who want to end ALL off-leash privileges for ALL dogs in New York City. They want no dog runs, no dogs running free in any park. They basically want no dogs. And they are suing the city to make that a reality. Don't laugh. They've already won one lawsuit. As the Queens Times Ledger (registration required) said in an editorial about the President of the group bringing the suit: "Bob [Holden] makes the Grinch look warm and fuzzy." Bloggers: please help me spread the word. I'm gonna break my 300-word blog post rule and rant about an issue that effects me and at least a million other New York City voters - dog laws. You can stop reading right now if you hate dogs. Oh, and if you do hate dogs, please don't come back. Estimates of the New York City dog population vary widely, but one million is a good guess, according to the New York Times. Every day, me and approximately 6,000 to 10,000 other dog owners take their dogs to Central Park so they can run off-leash with other dogs. It's not a law, exactly,...
Leash Nazis, JPCA, Want Dogs to Lose Park Priviliges
Dear Dog Lovers: That's Benny Bix Ochman Labradoodle puppy in Carl Shurz Park, where leash Nazis never allow dogs to run off-leash. That's why we get up at the crack of dawn and head to Central Park, where, before 9, dogs, hundreds of them, gleefully run free. Whether its 2 below or 102, raining, snowing, sleeting or hailing, we dog people are in the park so our pups can have their exercise. For many years, there has been an unwritten rule in Central Park that dogs can be off-leash before 9 am and after 9 pm. Now some crazies called the Juniper Park Civic Association have brought a lawsuit against the Parks Department to end this privilige for dogs and their people. The Urbanhound newsletter says "We don't think this lawsuit stands a chance (already, a judge has said it lacks reason). " But the leash Nazis won when they sued to keep dogs on leash in Riverside Park and now no dogs run free there. Urbanhound makes a petition and links to all pertinent city officials available, and encourages dog lovers to take action. The leash Nazis make dogs sound like terrorists. But in all the years I have...
Benny Goes to Charm School, Week One, Oy!
Tonight was my 16 week-old puppy Benny's first night at doggie charm school. Oy! There were about 10 puppies, ranging in age from four to six months. The only one who couldn't sit still while the instructor talked was Benny. He was determined to play with the other dogs and he was willing to break his neck or my back to get at them. The other puppies walked on a loose lead, practiced coming when called, sat long enough to eat two treats and learned not to jump on people they want to greet. Benny pulled on his leash within an inch of his life; barked his little head off; and got so nuts that he couldn't swallow the hundred or so scrumptuous treats he was offered. So he projectile choked on a few of them and generally worked himself into a froth. My job for the next week is to reward him for being quiet; recognizing his name; not jumping on people like a flying kung fu puppy, and walking with him on a loose lead. Har! But we'll try. He was, of course, so tired from all this carrying on that he was unconscious the minute we got...
Bob Herbert: Bush Dances While American Soldiers Die
New York Times' columnist Bob Herbert's scathing criticism of the way Bush and his cronies danced in a completely disgusting display of theocracy while American soldiers died in Iraq, is right on the money. Even as President Bush was taking the oath of office and delivering his Inaugural Address beneath the clear, cold skies of Washington, the news wires were churning out stories about the tragic mayhem in Iraq. There is no end in sight to the carnage, which was unleashed nearly two years ago by President Bush's decision to launch this wholly unnecessary war, one of the worst presidential decisions in American history. President Bush and his equally tone-deaf supporters spent the past few days partying hard while Americans, Iraqis and others continued to suffer and die in the Iraq conflagration. Nothing was too good for the princes and princesses of the new American plutocracy. Tens of millions of dollars were spent on fireworks, cocktail receptions, gala dinners and sumptuous balls....
Red Tail Hawks Evicted From Fifth Avenue Nest by Coop Board
The coop board of 927 Fifth Avenue has saddened and enraged many New Yorkers with the totally idiotic decision to remove the nest of Pale Male and Lola, two red tails hawks who have nested for the past 9 years on the 12th floor of the tony Upper East Side coop. I saw the hawks in Central Park two weeks ago, when they killed a pigeon. They are huge, (4 ft. wing span) kinda scary, and quite magnificent. Central Park doesn't need more pigeons or rats. But it does need these incredible birds. Says Pale Male's Website: "all today Pale Male and Lola can be seen flying around in small circles and standing on their bare nest site with meagre twigs in their mouth ready to repair. However the very important spikes [inserted by the building to support the nest]are missing and the twigs won't hold. Who will tell these innocent animals what our fellow humans have done to them?" I called the City's 311 number who said they will put my complaint into the Mayor's Correspondance unit. They gave me a report number and welcomed me to call back for a status report. Call them!!!! UPDATE: Park workers and...
Hero Dog Fends Off Central Park Rapist
A 60-pound mutt who saved his owner from a would-be rapist in Central Park is going to be honored as the hero he is by North Shore Animal League according to the Daily News (That's a picture of my hero, not hers, since I'll to use any excuse to show pictures of Sammy.) The woman, 30, was grabbed from behind by a thug as she walked with her dog shortly before 9 a.m. near 102nd Street and 5th Avenue. She fought him, but was being overpowered when her dog sprang into action and bit the assailant on the face (you go boy!) and leg. The attacker ran away leaving a trail of his blood, and DNA, behind. A police sketch of the assailant accompanies the Daily News story. While newspaper accounts described the area as deserted, it generally is not, making the attack that much more frightening. Sam and I often walk along or near the area where the attack happened. There generally are many other dogs and their owners in the area at that time because dogs are allowed off-leash in Central Park before 9 a.m. Tuesday, when the attack occurred, we were not far away, but heard and...
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