Auction success

Last night was the annual Hope for Horses fundraiser auction at the Bellevue Westin. Frank and MJ volunteered there all day, helping to haul the lots in, set up the band, organize the silent auction, and generally make it come off. They worked SO hard! Both of them straggled in last night, worn to the bone.

Cool stuff:

MJ was in charge of one group of volunteers. She handed out assignments and provided information and instructions.

Warren Moon and his (new) wife are pretty involved with HFH, so they were there. In addition to all of the above duties, MJ and Frank spent some time with the Moons' ~1yo son. He is evidently quite the cutie, and he found Frank's beard fascinating.

No word yet on total donations, but it sounds like it went well.

If you'd like to contribute to the cause—and having seen several of the horses that they've helped this past year, I can tell you it is a very worth one—you can use PayPal, or you can mail a check to:

Hope for Horses
PO Box 1790
Woodinville, WA 98072

Zoo review

*** SPOILER ALERT ***

Frank and MJ just wrote to tell me all about watching "Zoo." To read the report, use your mouse to highlight the empty space below. If you want to have the fun of discovering MJ's performance yourself, don't do that.

MJ's scenes are at the very end; she brought the movie to a close. Frank says she's very cute. MJ is most excited about the fact that she is listed in the credits!!!!!!!!! She's "the unknown girl."

Frank says the dry facts of the case aren't really included. Instead, it's very atmospheric. He says:

"The director [Robinson Devor] obviously tried VERY hard to not make these people seem creepy; but they are SOOOO creepy, it came through anyway. Yeech!

"In one sense the most fascinating part was the comments by one of the actual guys (Coyote?) about his interaction with Jenny and John when they came to take the horse. He pontificated on and on about how they knew nothing about horses and didn't understand horses like he did.

"But then again, who'd want to understand horses in that way?"

One note for all: Jenny, MJ's boss at Hope for Horses, was displeased with their use of one of her quotes in the movie. In it, she says something about understanding. Frank says it's pretty clear from her earlier comments in the film that she doesn't really understand, but Jenny was still unhappy that her words were taken out of context, making it appear as if she might condone what happened. She does not.

For those who know that MJ was interviewed by the director, we are sad to report that no interviews were included in the special features.

Zoo

MJ's movie, "Zoo," is now available on DVD. Remember, the subject matter of the documentary is bestiality, so this will not be for everyone.

Bowling for Hope

MJ's charity, Hope for Horses, is holding a bowling tournament to raise some much needed funds. We encourage you to join the fun or just send 'em some money. These people do amazing work.

Let me know if you want to preregister and I'll send you the form. To make a tax-deductible donation, send your check to:

Hope for Horses
PO Box 1790
Woodinville, WA 98072

Click the ad to view details about the event.

"Zoo" release

MJ's movie, "Zoo," opened in theaters today. It is playing in Seattle at the Varsity. Although the film is unrated due to its documentary nature, the Varsity has set an admission policy that no one under 18 can get in. I called and spoke to the manager to see if they would make an exception for MJ. They said they would, but we're still debating whether to go or not. The film contains "reenactments" that (1) might make us fairly uncomfortable, and (2) will perhaps attract an audience that might make us fairly uncomfortable. It's her call.

Star of saddle and screen...

MJ had a long work day at Hope for Horses today. The organization is being featured in an upcoming documentary about a much publicized bestiality case that occurred here in Seattle in the summer of 2005 (a man died after having sex with a horse). The horse ended up with HFH and was eventually placed with a family up in Bellingham who have a 14yo daughter. Bellingham isn't real convenient, so the film crew used one of the local HFH horses as a stand-in for the horse/victim. For the 14yo girl, they used (you guessed it) MJ!

They started setting up about 1 and filmed until nearly dark. Chloe and I went to watch the tail end of it (no pun intended). It was very cool. The crew would set up the shot, then the director would say, "Sound on. Camera on. Aaaand... MJ, action!"

I think MJ had a really good time (aside from getting a little saddle-sore), but Pete, the stand-in horse, was pretty fed up with all the rigmarole. Saddle on, saddle off, move him here, move him there. It was nice, though: You'd see him getting irritated, but then MJ would talk to him and his eyes would go all soft again. Those critters really adore her.

The movie itself will be, er, interesting. They are evidently giving equal time to the people who think bestiality is okay. Here are a couple of write-ups I found on the Web:

Documentary Filmmakers to Tackle Enumclaw Horse Case

The crew is hoping to get the film ready for Sundance 2007.

The foal arrived!

The foal was born in the wee hours of Saturday morning. He doesn't have a name yet, but it will probably start with H (they (re)name their horses alphabetically, and he comes after his mother Faith and sister Grace). Jenny votes for Hallelujah, but John doesn't like that much, so the debate continues.

As you can see from the picture below, his extra month of "cooking" time made for some loooong legs on this little guy.

MJ and Ollie at the Nordstroms

Here are a few photos from MJ's recent trip to deliver Ollie-the-mini to his new Nordstrom-owned digs on the Olympic Peninsula.

Ollie and MJ in the SUV

Ollie hiding from the donkeys in his new enclosure

Ollie having a walk on the beach

Hope for Horses

Duh, sorry, I forget where I've written what.

From the beginning of our homeschooling (3 years ago), MJ has been interested in volunteering at an animal shelter. The problem has been finding one that will accept volunteers younger than 16. A few weeks back, I was doing a little surfing and came across Hope for Horses, a horse rescue organization. They have a couple of facilities in the Puget Sound area where they take in abused and neglected horses, nurse them back to health, and then try to find foster or permanent homes for them. Their volunteer data sheet didn't specify an age minimum, so MJ sent in an application. They had her in for a little interview and tour, then made her part of the team. She's been going to their Woodinville ranch twice a week for a four-hour shift. She loves it, especially since they haven't treated her as slave labor who only gets to muck out stalls. Instead, they've given her a variety of tasks and seem to recognize the variety of skills MJ brings to the organization. Pretty cool.