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As I noted a short while back, I accidentally came across a series of fascinating videos. They’re all from a pianist Paul Barton who has used music to deal with people therapeutically, and he wondered if it would be effective with animals, as well. This is something that Barton has been doing in the jungles of Thailand for many years – I can’t tell exactly, but it seems like perhaps 15 years so far. And he’s developed connections with several of the elephants. There are quite a few of his videos that I thought about posting next (one with a clearly restless bull elephant who, once the music starts playing, not only calms down his anxious swaying, but sits down and calmly listens), but I’ve chosen this one instead. That’s because the others tend to start close to when the music begins, but this gives more of the behind-the-scenes perspective. And that’s important because, as Barton writes – “In this video I included a few extra behind-the-scenes clips to show how Mongkol, a bull elephant, would walk along the river bank in the early evening to the piano and wait. I needed to be absolutely sure Mongkol was waiting for music of his own accord before I played to him. Mongkol was free to stay and listen or to walk away at any time.” Also, it seems to be more common in the videos for the elephants to hover over the piano when the music is playing, and this gives a better sense of that. Worth noting, as well, is that a common activity when watching these videos is how the elephants seem to flap their ears more often when the music is playing.
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On the surface, this is the endearing story of a rescue boxer who pretty much only gets along with the woman who adopted him. But I think it’s as much a squirrel story (yes, another one – I love squirrel stories. Not as much as my friend Rob Hedden, though I’m not completely sure I want to go that far). That’s because – well, as Rob would see it, squirrels bring out the best in everyone, if you just let them. I don't think I can embed the video here (I'll try...), but if it doesn't work, you can watch it by the clicking the link here. There are few things I find that evoke more smiles that a pack of really, really, really happy dogs. And these are really, really, really happy dogs greeting their caretaker at a shelter. One can only imagine the kindness and joys she brings to them every day. This is definitely different for one of our Adorable Animal Videos, but it qualifies under the judges' ruling, and is a lot of fun. It’s a two-part video of a segment from Cesar Milan’s show Cesar 911. Most of the shows in his various series take place at his home base in Los Angeles, but here’s he’s on the road in New York City and is called to help a family with an insecure dog -- where it turns out that their other dog has a trust issue. And what stands out here, and the reason for posting it, of course, is that the family is Jerry Seinfeld’s. And he’s absolutely certain that Cesar doesn’t stand a chance of fixing it. This may be the most gentle, sweet, understanding therapy dog I’ve seen. A family took in a badly injured, traumatized kitten, and knowing that their golden retriever Toby has comforted other such cats, they brought him around again. This is sort of remarkable and utterly endearing. It's start slow, "Oh, that's nice..." but then picks up. In the country of Georgia, there is a stray dog by the name of Kupata who regularly arrives to help children cross the road. Even barking and chasing cars who don’t stop or slow down. |
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AuthorRobert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. 
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