follow-ups

I'll start with the good news first. Jennifer's photo of some guy looking out a window in an ivy-covered parking garage was the runner-up in the Urban Photo Safari Contest, which 25 photographers or teams took part in. There are a lot of good photos on the contestant site that provide a neat view of Kansas City landmarks.

In sad news, I received word today that the brown bear named JJ1, or "Bruno" as he has been referred to by the European press, has been killed. Politicians and animal lovers alike were upset by the outcome. According to Yahoo! News, Tony Scherer, the mayor of Schliersee, the Bavarian town near Spitzingsee lake, where Bruno was killed, disagreed with the actions.

"The death penalty has been abolished," Scherer said. "This bear didn't do anything bad — for me it is absolutely unnecessary for him to have been shot."

I first wrote about Bruno on this site several weeks ago, excitedly suggesting that JJ1's adventures would make great fodder for a song, screenplay or poem. However, I can't say I didn't anticipate a tragic end to the saga. As usual, society and squeamish sheep farmers are to blame. However, I also hold the media partially responsible. The media's chosen nickname of "Bruno" invokes the unpleasant traits of brutality, belligerence, as well as the name of Popeye's nemesis. Bruno also suffers an unfortunate association with another tragic German figure, Bruno S. Bruno S. starred in the Werner Herzog films "Stroszek" and "The Mystery of Kaspar Von Hauser," both of which follow the life of a societal fringe character. Bruno S. suffers an untimely death in both films, in a similar way that Bruno the bear perishes in the cruellest motion picture of all: life.

At least one of the readers of this site have written in to express their dismay over the shooting. "Bruno, we hardly knew ye!" writes Jeffrey A. of Waldo. "Why, God, why?" To those of you in mourning, I understand your frustration. My only hope is that Bruno's mother will appear and begin terrorizing the intolerant Tyrolians, much like Grendel's mom attacked the Geats in Beowulf. Another classic work of literature, Gasoline Alley, appears to anticipate such an event as well, as evidenced by their comic this Saturday.

Unfortunately, nothing can bring Bruno back now, not even laughter. I hope to pay my respects to him in Munich once his remains are put on display in the museum of Nature and Man.

In final blog follow-up notes, almost half of the class of 1992 (not really) have emerged to leave comments about their 14-year-old yearbook photo. Perhaps a reunion photo is in order, if such a document can be unearthed.

Thank you for your faithful attention to this site, which suffers an identity crisis with almost each and every post. A new name and additional editors will likely be in place before July. As always: