Here is more information about the event and dinner:

Green Vegetarian Restaurant’s 3rd annual ThanksLIVING Arizona 2010
celebration offers a healthy and compassionate alternative to the
traditional holiday turkey dinner. Diners will enjoy a delicious,
eco-friendly, multi-course gourmet vegan meal guaranteed to appease even
the most discerning palate. Animal-friendly vendors, Farm Sanctuary
turkey adoption sponsorships, an art exhibit by Tracy Dove, creator of
the ThanksLIVING logo, music , a blanket and towel drive for Maricopa
County Animal Care and Control’s animals, and a welcome by special guest
Paul Shapiro, of the Humane Society of the United States, ensure an
upbeat day of compassionate celebration. 

Click here for this year’s ThanksLIVING menu: http://greenvegetarian.com/thanksLIVING.pdf

Reservations, which may be purchased via the restaurant’s website,
(www.greenvegetarian.com) are $24.95 per person in advance/$28.95 day of
and $8.95 for children under 12. Get tickets online here:
http://greenvegetarian.com/paypalthanksliving.html

Tickets are also for sale at Green New American Vegetarian Restaurant. During these challenging economic times, Chef Damon has maintained last year’s price for this year’s dinner to make the celebration more affordable for
those desiring compassionate cuisine this holiday season.

DATE: ThanksLIVING DAY, Thursday November 25, 2010

TIME: 12:00 NOON — 4:00 PM

LOCATION: GREEN NEW AMERICAN VEGETARIAN RESTAURANT

DIRECTIONS:
2240 N. Scottsdale Rd., #8 in Tempe, AZ (just north of McKellips Rd.
on the west side of the street, on the NW corner of Papago and
Scottsdale Road). Overflow parking is available on Papago and other
nearby side streets. There is also a large shopping center on the SE
corner of McKellips and Scottsdale Road.

If you purchase online, just print out your online purchase receipt, bring it with you to the CHECK IN table, the day of the event, and begin celebrating THE most compassionate ThanksLIVING in town! If your ThanksLIVING day schedule is tight you can also purchase tickets, in advance, at the restaurant and bypass the CHECK IN table on ThanksLIVING day. 

Check out these VIDEOS from prior years:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNPSmAXnoV0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMp3aPiKLf0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvfBCA5vteU

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The story of how Lovin’ Spoonfuls got started is just fascinating.  You can read all about it here: http://www.lovinspoonfuls.com/MyStory.htm  There’s also a link on that site to view a PBS  "Arizona Illustrated video about Lovin’ Spoonfuls. 

Lovin’ Spoonfuls is located at 2990 N. Campbell Ave, Tucson, AZ (520) 325-7766

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JJ Virgin, author of the Six Weeks to Sleeveless and Sexy.  is the nutrition expert on a television reality show on TLC.  The show,  "Freaky Eaters",  is based on a British show of the same name and features the struggles of people  with compulsion towards a particular food, such as pizza, diet cola, french fries, just to name a few.  Each episode documents one Freaky Eater’s painful truth of the toll the food obsession/addiction is taking on his or her life and attempts to get the Freaky Eater on a path to eating a more nutritionally balanced diet. 

JJ, having over 25 years in the fitness industry has worked with performance athletes, CEO’s, and A-list celebrities from around the world, including Gene Simmons, Ben Stiller, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Tracie Thoms, Janeane Garofalo, Joshua Rexford, Stephen Bishop, Benny Mardones, and Brandon Routh. JJ was a featured nutrition expert for 2 years on the Dr. Phil Show, and has also had  appearances on ABC’s Extreme Makeover, NBC’s iVillage Live, and the E! channel’s Modern Girl’s Guide to Life. Her articles have appeared in popular magazines including US and SHAPE. 

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In October of 2009, when Oscar was just two years old,  he met with a horrific accident while he was in a maize field.  A combine harvester cut off his back legs between his ankle and his feet.  A cyclist found him and brought Oscar to his "mum and dad’s" home.  Oscar’s "parents",  Mike Nolan and Kate Allan, fearing that they would be advised to have Oscar euthanised, rushed Oscar to their local vet, Dr. Peter Haworth of the New Era Veterinary Hospital.  Dr. Haworth immediately contacted another vet, Dr. Noel Fizpatrick, of www.fitzpatrickreferrals.co.uk,  a world-renowned state-of-the-art practice in Surrey, England, which specializes in small-animal neuro-orthopedics.

Dr. Noel Fitzpatrick

Dr. Fitzpatrick, a pioneer in his field, has developed many novel techniques and technologies to save his animal patients from being euthanised. After reviewing Oscar’s x-rays and photos and much discussion with Dr. Haworth and Oscar’s "parents",  Dr. Fitzpatrick stated that, due in part  to Oscar’s young age,  he would make an ideal candidate for a revolutionary new procedure he had been developing: bionic cat legs. 

Oscar was flown to the United Kingdom to meet with Dr. Fitzpatrick and his team while Oscar’s "mum" and "dad" did a lot of "soul-searching" before agreeing to go ahead with the ground-breaking procedure.

The first video shows Oscar enthusiastically using his new legs and the second is a follow-up.  There’s a lot more of Oscar’s story below the second video.

This second video shows Oscar after he has had time to heal, now filled with prosthetic flexible paws instead of the pegs. This allows him to move around easier and have a more realistic "cat-like" walk. To me it doesn’t even really look like he has "bionic-legs", more like he has really adorable little "booties" on.

Collaborators & ITAP

Interestingly, Dr. Fitzpatrick claims to have got the idea of  bionic legs for animals from the character Wolverine of the original X Men movie. Dr. Fitzpatrick  had previously used this novel idea on a labrador dog with chronic crippling arthritis, but never on a cat.

Dr. Fitzpatrick collaborated with Gordon Blunn and colleagues of  the University College London’s Centre for Biomedical Engineering to create steel rods coated with hydroxylapatite, known also as hydroxyapatite, (the official name for them is intraosseous transcutaneous amputation prosthetics –ITAPs).  These were drilled into what was left of Oscar’s hind legs. The material itself, combined with the way it is attached, encourages the bones cells and skin to grow onto the rods creating a seal to prevent infection.  This mimics a natural process, similar to the way deer grow antlers. The ITAP technology is now being tested on humans.

Dr. Fitzpatrick currently appears on a BBC 1 television series, The Bionic Vet.  I have not found this show available on U.S. TV yet, but hope that it will air here soon.

Thank You

A huge kudos and thank you to Dr. Fitzpatrick and his team for his pioneering work, to Dr. Haworth for having the insight to contact Dr. Fitzpatrick, for Gordon Blunn of University College London and all who worked on the ITAPs, to Oscar’s "parents", Kate Allan and Mike Nolan who agreed to go ahead with the pioneering surgery and to the cyclist who found Oscar in the field.  Thank you all for daring to create a world that you and Oscar desire to live in.

Blessings to Oscar

And finally huge meows of love to Oscar.  You are one fabulous feline.  The love, dedication, collaboration and innovation you have inspired in others is astounding and has impacted people around the world.  You, dear Oscar, are simply spectacular, or may I say, spec-"CAT" -ular!  Blessings to you for a long, healthy and joyful life.

Much of this story is compiled courtesy of Wikipedia and Cnet news.  

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For more information go to healthforce.com

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Learn more about Dr. SAM’s book here: Revolutionary Rehab

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Dr. Mitzi Lynton and Ron Peer of Secrets of The Secret Interview Health and Wellness Expert Samuel Mielcarksi.  In this illuminating conversation, Dr. Sam talks about how to decrease physical pain and suffering, recover quickly from injuries and illnesses, and offers tips on how to heal your body using your own mind/body connection.  

Dr. SAM (Samuel Arthur Mielcarski), DPT, is an expert in the field of rehabilitation. He has helped hundreds of people from around the world transform their health and well-being. Samuel has appeared in various health and rehabilitation publications, and he is the creator of the "Revolutionary Rehab Manual." Due to his ability to get outstanding results as well as his passion and quest to help others, Samuel has become a highly sought after health and rehabilitation consultant.

 For FULL information about Dr. SAM’s health manual and the special related BONUSES Mitzi and Ron are providing for those wanting to take the next step, please go here:

Revolutionary Rehab  BONUS PACKAGE

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