Are You Watching Molly the Barn Owl? Thousands Around the World Are!

 Meet Molly!

Molly The Owl is the newest animal star on the internet. A couple in San Marcos, CA, near San Diego,CA set up a owl box two years ago and got lucky when Molly and her mate, McGee recently made it their home. Molly laid the first of 6 eggs mid-February, with the first one hatching Sunday, March 21st. Thousands of people around the world tuned in to watch it happen. In fact, so many people tuned in, the website crashed and was down for four hours.

The couple told a San Diego news stations, they set up a web cam and watched the show unfold on their TV, but their 17-year old grandson showed them  how to bring the live feed to the world. More than 1.5 million people have tuned in to watch since the feed started to air on USTREAM . 

 Molly tending to her eggs. 
(Photo from CBS8.com)

There's a chat room where fans can talk to each other about the excitement generated from watching nature at work. Many people claim to be addicted to watching Molly and hang on her every move. While I missed the first owlet, named Max, enter the world, I have seen Daddy Max bring Molly a few mice for her dinner and even a rabbit. It's not much fun watching her tear into the meat, but I was mesmerized watching Molly feed her new baby. She's definitely doing it right, since the baby owl doubled it's tiny size in one day.

 Molly napping in her owl box

(photo from cbs8.com)

You can watch the family of barn owls 24/7 from two different camera's. The one during the day shows everything in bright color, while the nighttime camera is in black and white. 

Molly's coloring is just gorgeous and she looks soft and fluffy. She's really just darling. I must admit - I'm hooked. I keep the sound up, while I'm at my computer and switch back to the live feed anytime I hear her stirring.

The pink spot is the owlet!

Just a warning for kids watching, McGee swoops in daily to grab a quickie. It's always fast and furious and could be disturbing to those who don't understand. But these birds are wild - not someone's pets.

You can learn more about barn owls, the owl box Molly lives in, and other details about this bird family; plus watch video's of some of the things you've missed so far - all on the Ustream live feed.

Click here to view Molly's website.


Click here to view the Live feed.


Molly is also on Twitter and FaceBook! Check the website and live feed for details.

Daddy McGee

You can learn more about barn owls, the owl box Molly lives in and watch video's of some of the things you've missed so far - all on the Ustream live feed.


 Enjoy!

"It's so wonderful to watch an animal, because an animal has no opinion about itself." - Eckhart Tolle

***The second egg hatched Tuesday afternoon, March 23rd and they named the owlet, Pattinson after the school where they spoke to a group of kids.***

****The third egg hatched on Thursday, March 25th (my birthday!) and they named it Austin.***

****The fourth egg hatched on Sunday, March 28th. He's named Wesley.*** 

04/05/10: Alas, the last egg didn't make it. 

Molly (Taken from her blog)

But keep watching, because the owlets are growing so fast! It's incredible to watch Molly fluff up to gather all four of the little ones under her wings - and not crush them! I've learned that an owl grows to it's full size in 30 days, so we'll get to see how Molly responds as they get larger and mature. I'm so addicted!

4-19-10: Now the owlets are so big, Molly can now longer keep all of them under her wings. Today, she literally flew the coop for almost a 24-hour period, but finally came back. She and McGee both returned with food and fed each of the four babies. The babies slept most of the day and seemed just fine by themselves. McGee brought them food while Molly was away too. 

6-14-10 - It's over! The little family of wild barn owls have literally flown the coop and are off on their own now. Carlos Royal has turned off his camera's to the owl box, so we can no longer watch them in nature. It was very educational and a lot of fun. I really enjoyed this and thank Carlos and his family for 5 months of entertainment.

The DSC Back Togther Again: One Night Only

 Dave and Ruthie

Earlier this month, each member of "The Dave, Shelly and Chainsaw Morning Show," partied together. We met at Shelly Dunn's beautiful, San Diego home on Saturday night, March 6th.

Front Row: Shelly Dunn, Dave Rickards, Emily Maguire; 

Back Row: Cookie "Chainsaw" Randolph, Chris Boyer, Ruth 66, Sarah Beltis

It was the first time we had been all together since our last radio show on December 18th, 2009.

 My Boys (with Nicole Rickards)

My Girls: Sarah, Emily, Shelly & me

Emily, Boyer, Sarah

Poor Shelly on crutches with Nicole and Sarah goofing

The DSC Crew

 That's Sarah fiancee Chip between me and Sarah

 Ruthie and sweet Emily 

Dave was pretty darn handsy!

 Chainsaw and Dave's hot wife, Nicole in Shelly's outdoor kitchen

 Nicole looks a little buzzed!

Boyer and Emily

I was really happy to see everyone again!

The broads of The DSC

Not a fake smile in the bunch!

Seriously, we had the best time together! It was really great to see each other again after the shock of losing our gig. We had so much fun, we decided to do this more often. Dave and Nicole originated the event, but Shelly high jacked it (Nicole's words) to make it easier for her. She had surgery on her foot over our Christmas break and just had her cast changed out to a walking boot days before the party. She hopes to be walking around better than ever in another month or two.

Hope you enjoyed seeing our smiling faces once more. Thanks for visiting my blog. ~Ruthie~

All photo's are the property of Emily Maguire.

2009 Salmon Botanicals: stretched canvas, 16x20,"  Original Mixed Media Painting by Nina Reeba/Ruth66, for sale $175

Ever hear of a Garage Sale with Nothing But Art Supplies? Me Either!

 A stack of magazines I picked up for a song!

We've all been to our share of garage sales over the years, but when I heard La Mesa artist, Lisa Bebi, was having one with nothing but cast off art supplies -- I jumped for joy! Plus, she found two other artists to join her -- bonus!

 Lisa's garage ready to go. This pic and the next two came from her blog.

Lisa has been an artist all of her life and this was the first major overhaul of her art studio. It got so full of cool art stuff, that she uses her dining room table to paint. Please visit her blog to see some of the inspired mixed media art work she does.

Since Lisa does mixed media, she has all sort of ephemera, books, papers, brushes, pens, glues, mediums, rubber stamps, ink pads and more.

 The sale started today at 8 am. The early bird gets the worm and I didn't arrive until 8:30. The woman pictured below got there first and bought a ton of stuff, including ALL of the rubber stamps, ink pads and a giant box of magazines. I didn't see what else she picked up, because I had to hurry and find my own treasures before she bought everything!

The smart shopper (l) and Lisa (r).

Here are a few of the boxes she loaded into her car! She filled up those two empty ones and more.

She bought almost everything on that table!

I started in the ten cents an item section and selected some old issues of Art Forum, Art in America, a book of colored paper and the only Stampington magazine the other woman didn't buy. It was in the bargain bin, because it was missing its cover.

I bought a slew of gel pens for 20 cents each, a glue stick, a roll of raised tape and a zipper bag for the pens -- for a dime each. The partially used tubs of Golden mediums, the bag of acrylic paints and the bottle of ink were in the quarter box. 

I picked up 24 sheets of scrap book paper for $2, plus a pack of white envelopes, some smaller papers and a roll of sheer paper for my collage's and card making.

I'm new to adding fabric to my artwork, so I really don't own much. Kathy Olson sold me that whole box of fibers and ribbons for $5. The individual pieces of fabric in front of the box were $1 each.

Kathy Olson

More of Kathy's items for sale.

I ran into two of my artist friends, Diane (l) and Hilari (r).

We poured over the wonderful selection of colored pens!

Here's Bet and Hilari checking out some of the books for sale.

Believe it or not, Lisa is not yet finished cleaning out her art studio. She still needs to sort through more of her books and vintage papers. You know I'll be there for that gARTage sale too!

I would love to see this as the beginning of a new trend. I know many artists who are also in the midst of spring cleaning, so maybe we could have more group garage sales in San Diego. In fact, why limit it to San Diego? 

Why not start a nationwide trend and get artists together, who are committed to stamping out clutter from their homes and art studios and have them team up and sell their art supplies to other artists and craftsmen?! Are you game?

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this idea. Please leave me a comment below. Thanks for stopping by! ~NR~

Something I made in one of Lisa's Paint-Over Style workshops in San Diego, CA 2009.

Oscar Awards 2010

 It was an historic night at the 82nd Annual Oscar Award ceremony  in rainy LA, at the Kodak Theater on Sunday, Mark 7th. The red carpet was tented so the stars didn't muss their fancy dresses and do's. I love the pomp and circumstance of it all!

The $11million Hurt Locker won six Oscars to the $300 million Avatar's three. The Hurt Locker won the biggest prizes of the night for Best Picture and Best Director Kathryn Bigelow.

Kathryn Bigelow made history as the first female director to win the coveted prize. Ironically, Barbara Streisand presented her award. She should have won it herself years ago when Yentl won Best Picture, but not Best Director. LOVED Kathryn's dress!

 

 

Kathryn Bigelow is the ex-wife of of Avatar's director, James Cameron, seen below with current wife, bony actress Suzi Amis.

Sandra Bullock looked stunning in her sparkly gown and straight hair, as she walked the red carpet and then went on to win Best Actress for Blind Side. Her acceptance speech was lovely and heartfelt, especially when she got teary eyed thanking her late Mother. She made me cry. The camera showed us her rough and tumble husband was crying too.

 

 

Sandra Bullock hugs fellow nominee, the fabulous Helen Mirren. Sandra faced stellar competition against Meryl Streep, Carey Mulligan and Gabourey Sibibe. Loved her dress!

 

Jeff Bridges won for Best Actor for his role in Crazy Heart. He made an enthusiastic speech and looked heavenward when thanking his parents who, "loved show business." He beat George Clooney, Colin Firth, Morgan Freeman and Jeremy Renner.

Mo'nique won Best Supporting Actress for Precious. I thought her acceptance speech was very sincere and heart felt. I really appreciate it when an actor prepares a speech just in case they win. That phony thing where they didn't expect to win and claim to be caught off guard and didn't prepare anything - leaves me cold. You were nominated, so there was a chance you  might win, so act like a professional. Sheesh!

 The actress was wearing gardenia's in her hair and the same shade of blue as Gone with the Wind actress Hattie McDaniel's when she took her Oscar seven decades ago. Other actresses in the category were: Penelope Cruz, Vera Farmiga, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Anna Kendrick.

Christoph Waltz took best supporting actor for Inglourious Bastards.

He beat four Hollywood veterans: Matt Damon, Woody Harrelson, Christopher Plummer and Stanley Tucci.

 Best Costume Winner for The Young Victoria; (Snobbish speech - her third Oscar and I hope she doesn't get a fourth. I didn't like her dress either.)

There were three opening numbers, including one with co-hosts Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin.

And Neil Patrick Harris.

Really great tribute to the late John Hughes with some of the actors from his films.

They always include a lovely montage of the stars who died this past year, but they forgot Farah Fawcett! D'oh!
James Taylor sung along to it.

Some of the presenters included:

Ben Stiller

Demi Moore (love the dress, but hate that color on her)

Queen Latifa (Beautiful femme, dress with sparkle!)

 Jennifer Lopez (That's a lotta dress, but I think she pulled it off quite nicely.)

Sara Jessica Parker. (It's Channel Couture, with an open back. I love the color and the metallic lace in front. Yes, it was shapeless, but I liked it. Loved her 60's up-do as well.

Charlize Theron (What she was thinking here - look at my breasts please - well okay! Love the color though.)

Cameron Diaz (Very glam!)

Kate Winslet (So elegant! Canary diamond jewels too!)

Penelope Cruz, Best Actress Nominee (Gorgeous!)

Helen Mirren, Best Actress Nominee (Fabulous as usual!)

Kristin Stewart (Looking uncomfortable as usual.)

Sigourney Weaver (Sleeveless was a brave choice, but I dig the scarlet.)

Rachael McAdams (Pretty, soft, femme watercolor painting)

Carey Mulligan, Best Actress Nominee (Young, hip and modern. Love!)

Amanda Seyfried (Big-ass dress, dang.)

Vera Farmiga, Best Actress Nominee (One of my favorite colors! Maybe too many ruffles though.)

 Sam Worthington and girlfriend

Jeremy Renner, Best Actor Nominee

Best Actor nominee, George Clooney and girlfriend

Maggie Gyllenhaal, Best Supporting Actress Nominee

Gabourey Sidibe, Best Actress Nominee

Miley Cyress

TV's Mariska Hargitay

Carey Mulligan and Zoe Saldana

Who was worst dressed? Who was best dressed?

Mark Boal, Best Screenplay Winner

I loved his in acceptance speech when he told kids not to let anyone ever tell them creative pursuits were a waste of time!

I fully support anyone who chooses a creative outlet! Who knows, your dreams might come true too.

All photo's courtesy of Reuters, AP, Getty Images.