Happy-Go-Lucky — Movie Review

Happy-Go-Lucky.  Have you seen it ?  It’s a British Film by Mike Leigh. It’s been out on DVD for quite a while.  The main character, Poppy, portrayed by Sally Hawkins, exemplifies the song "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" written by Eric Idle of Monty Python and featured in the film Life of Brian.  Poppy is someone who does not let life get her down.  She always looks for the best in others and in her circumstances.  The film doesn’t really have a huge dramatic plot, rather meandering through Poppy’s day-to-day life, illustrating the way she deals with challenging situations and people.  Situations and people which might have caused some of us to get really cheesed off do not affect her.  She lets things flow off her, like water on a duck’s back.  She is genuinely interested in people and takes time to get to know them. 

While I enjoyed the movie as I was watching it, I have to admit when it was over I wondered what it was all about.  Then as I sat and talked about it with my husband I realized how incredibly brilliant and what a gem Happy-Go-Lucky is.  Poppy’s attitude about life, her ability to let things go and just be there in the moment is admirable.  I’m really glad that I watched the movie first and then looked at the review on IMDB second.  (Always a good tactic in my opinion).  While there are many favorable reviews there are also some on the IMDB who just did not seem to enjoy this movie at all –some found Poppy  "depressingly optimistic and naive".

Yes, Poppy is optimistic and does find the humor and wonder in things.  Is she a totally realistic character?  Probably not.  But what I loved about the movie and about her character was her ability to not get bogged down by people, places and situations.  She takes things in her stride and enjoys life.  

Now I know that life is a serious business and that no one gets out of life alive and that people around the world are suffering.  Right now thousands, upon thousands of people are suffering all over the world in one way or another. Yet I ask myself, even in a situation where there is suffering what would the character of Poppy do?  She would listen,  love and bring a smile to someone’s face.  In the midst of massive suffering and grief, life goes on and Poppy would bring a smile.   

I’ve already recommended this lovely movie to several people and now I am recommending it to all of you. Let me know what you think. 

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Amputee Cat – Oscar the Bionic Cat

Oscar, a cat from the Channel Island of Jersey (between England and France), is a walking miracle!

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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Getting Your Fun On! Motivational Moment

Dr. Mitzi encourages you to get your fun on and not take yourself too seriously.  In this video she also mentions Red Nose Day. 

The following information,  courtesy of  Rednoseday.com and Wikipedia gives more background about Red Nose Day and Comic Relief, UK.

Red Nose Day is a UK-wide fundraising event organized by Comic Relief every two years. On Red Nose Day everyone is encouraged to cast inhibitions aside, put on a Red Nose and do something a little bit silly to raise money – celebrities included! It culminates in a night of extraordinary comedy and moving documentary films on BBC 1. Red Nose Day is an event that unites the entire nation in making a  difference to the lives of thousands of people, both across Africa and in the UK, — those facing terrible injustice or living in abject poverty.

Comic Relief, which organizes Red Nose Day is a British charity organization, founded in 1985 by comedy scriptwriter Richard Curtis and Alexander Mendis in response to devastating famine in Ethiopia. Comic Relief was launched live on Noel Edmond’s Late, Late Breakfast Show on BBC1 on Christmas Day 1985 from a refugee camp in Sudan.  Noted charity worker, Jane Tewson, came up with the idea for Comic Relief and she established it as the operating name of Charity Projects, a registered charity in England and Scotland.  

 The highlight of Comic Relief’s appeal is an annual telethon held in March, alternating as Red Nose Day. Comic Relief is one of the two high profile telethon events held in Britain, the other being Children in Need held annually in November.

 One of the fundamental principles behind working at Comic Relief is the "Golden Pound Principle" where every single pound (currency) donated is spent on charitable projects. All operating costs such such as staff salaries are covered by corporate sponsors, or interest which is earned while money raised is waiting to be spent (granted) to charitable projects.

Currently, its two main supporters are the BBC, and Sainsbury’s supermarket. The BBC is responsible for the live television extravaganza on Red Nose Day, and Sainsbury’s sells merchandise on behalf of the charity.

In 2002, Comic Relief and BBC Sport  teamed up to create Sport Relief, a new initiative, aiming to unite the sporting community and culminate in a night of sport, entertainment and fundraising on BBC1. Sport Relief is a biennial charity event, and the campaign deliberately alternates years with Red Nose Day, Comic Relief’s flagship event. Comic Relief occurs in odd-numbered years, and Sport Relief in even numbered years. 

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