Chico (the sheep) + Dorothy (the goat) = true love

Love may not conquer ALL, but it certainly has the potential to shake things up and turn our usual way of thinking on its ear. Love also tends to sneak up on us when we least expect it: we're hanging out in our favorite neighborhood watering hole, maybe munching on some food. We look up and there she is. We're pretty sure we've seen her around, but this time something feels different. Our eyes lock across the crowded room. It's instant chemistry and (insert sappy muzak) we live happily ever after.

This may sound a tad fairytale-ish, even to the most hopeless of hopeless romantics, but it's exactly what happened in the sheep barn at The Farm Sanctuary in New York when a sheep named Chico and a goat named Dorothy (above) fell head-over-heels in love. The Farm has seen its share of special bonds: steers Larry and Kevin have stood by each other for 16 years while Bing and Bessie, two geese, have been loyal companions for 24 years. Free from fear, stress and deprivation, its residents are able to express their true natures and, well, follow their hearts.Sometimes, just like with people, animals' hearts lead them in surprising directions. Though sheep and goats often get along fine, The Farm has rarely seen any keen interest between members of the two species. Dorothy and Chico live in a herd of more than 100 sheep and goats. They weren't rescued together and, according to The Farm, people often have a hard time telling them apart, especially the sheep. But Dorothy recognizes Chico from the other end of the barn. They seek each other out, and when they meet, they exchange adoring greetings by rubbing their heads against each other. They spend hours each day grooming, playing and snuggling together. No one knows exactly how it happened, but this sheep-goat pair is over the moon.While Dorothy and Chico are not intact, their union begs the question, if they were, could they have a little "geep" of their own? The New York Times recently addressed this issue in a science Q&A. According to the article, "a geep is not actually an offspring of the sexual mating of one sheep and one goat; rather, it is an animal resulting from the physical mingling of very early embryos of the two species" also known as a chimera. The first well-known geep was born in 1984 in Cambridge, England. It showed patches of both goatish hair and sheepish wool.An actual sheep-goat hybrid is also possible, but because goats and sheep have mismatched numbers of chromosomes (60 and 54, respectively), the resulting offspring, if it survives, is sterile.Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/pets/detail?blogid=48&entry_id=57280#ixzz0fuJGzG1E
This may sound a tad fairytale-ish, even to the most hopeless of hopeless romantics, but it's exactly what happened in the sheep barn at The Farm Sanctuary in New York when a sheep named Chico and a goat named Dorothy (above) fell head-over-heels in love. The Farm has seen its share of special bonds: steers Larry and Kevin have stood by each other for 16 years while Bing and Bessie, two geese, have been loyal companions for 24 years. Free from fear, stress and deprivation, its residents are able to express their true natures and, well, follow their hearts.

Sometimes, just like with people, animals' hearts lead them in surprising directions. Though sheep and goats often get along fine, The Farm has rarely seen any keen interest between members of the two species. Dorothy and Chico live in a herd of more than 100 sheep and goats. They weren't rescued together and, according to The Farm, people often have a hard time telling them apart, especially the sheep. But Dorothy recognizes Chico from the other end of the barn. They seek each other out, and when they meet, they exchange adoring greetings by rubbing their heads against each other. They spend hours each day grooming, playing and snuggling together. No one knows exactly how it happened, but this sheep-goat pair is over the moon.

While Dorothy and Chico are not intact, their union begs the question, if they were, could they have a little "geep" of their own? The New York Times recently addressed this issue in a science Q&A. According to the article, "a geep is not actually an offspring of the sexual mating of one sheep and one goat; rather, it is an animal resulting from the physical mingling of very early embryos of the two species" also known as a chimera. The first well-known geep was born in 1984 in Cambridge, England. It showed patches of both goatish hair and sheepish wool.

An actual sheep-goat hybrid is also possible, but because goats and sheep have mismatched numbers of chromosomes (60 and 54, respectively), the resulting offspring, if it survives, is sterile.

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Mr. Ayers -- recording artist

STEVE LOPEZ

I was beginning to think we'd never get around to making the CD that Nathaniel Anthony Ayers has been talking about for years.

Last summer, on a trip to San Francisco, where Mr. Ayers was honored for his spirit by the National Alliance on Mental Illness, we came up with the perfect name for it:

"Putting on Ayers."

But when readers and friends asked when it would be available, I had no good answer.

Some days Mr. Ayers is fine; some days not.

Some days he wants companionship; other days he needs to be alone.

As for the CD, he'd back off one day, calling it a terrible idea. And then he'd be ready to roll the next day.

Finally, a few weeks ago, it all seemed to be coming together. We had a day booked in a Silver Lake studio. A pal of his, Joe Russo, had agreed to fly in from Connecticut to record with him.

L.A. Philharmonic pianist Joanne Pearce Martin and violinist Robert Gupta had juggled schedules. And Michael Balzary, also known as Flea of the band Red Hot Chili Peppers, was eager to join us.

Then, the night before, Mr. Ayers -- a former Juilliard student who was homeless and playing a two-string violin when I met him five years ago -- backed out of the recording session.

"It's not going to happen," he said, complaining of an upset stomach that I suspected was caused in part by a case of nerves.

I woke the next day to an urgent message from Mr. Ayers: He was feeling better and ready to go, and I was relieved I hadn't called off the whole thing.

An hour later, he canceled, and I lost a few more strands of hair.

The other musicians were standing by. Would Mr. Ayers reconsider?

OK, he said.

I picked him up on skid row and packed his bass, cello, violin, guitar, trumpet and flute into my car. He left his viola, French horn, keyboards and trombone in his room, perhaps saving them for his second CD.

On the way to Silver Lake, Mr. Ayers was nervous but game. He wanted to know how the day would play out, and I reminded him there was no strategy other than for him to jam on as many instruments as he cared to play. Steven Argila, a pianist and owner of the studio, had met Mr. Ayers before and was ready to go with the flow, and the same was true of Stephen Krause, the recording engineer.

Bass player Flea and drummer Scott Gold, my mate at The Times, beat us to the studio. I think it's fair to say Mr. Ayers had never met anyone named Flea at Juilliard, but musicians are musicians, and they were all playing together before long.

Mr. Ayers was on piano, Flea and Gold backing him up. Mr. Ayers had a smile on his face, and Flea seemed happy just to be there. He had begun e-mailing me when I first started writing about Mr. Ayers, telling me he was inspired by the story and would love to play with him if possible.

"For me, it's just having a belief and a faith in the healing power of music," Flea said, telling me he could identify with the way music gives Mr. Ayers sanctuary during tough times.

Flea described himself as "a street urchin" in his youth, running around L.A. and getting into trouble before music rescued him. After the success of the Chili Peppers, he set up the Silver Lake Music Conservatory, which has taught music to hundreds of kids, whether or not they can pay. It was just such a nonprofit, the Music School Settlement in Cleveland, that gave Mr. Ayers his start 45 years ago.

Ayers and Flea have another thing in common: They are both still students. Flea studied music theory last year at USC and has been learning piano. Mr. Ayers started on the bass but can't stop exploring other instruments. He'd rather struggle with the viola, say, for the sake of the challenge, than impress on the instrument he's mastered.

"That's exciting," Flea said, telling me the artistry is in the risk.

Yes, but it makes for mixed results. Mr. Ayers played violin, cello, bass, piano and trumpet with varying degrees of success. There were moments of brilliance, with Mr. Ayers swinging on cello and bass, and there were moments that won't make the CD cut.

He's got his own sound, for sure, unstructured and sometimes unresolved, manic, lost. He plays his life, and he plays it in a jazzy, bluesy voice framed by the classical training. I wonder sometimes if formal treatment, which Mr. Ayers resists, would smooth his expression or remove the soul.

Flea and Argila were wowed by Mr. Ayers' rich, haunting tone on trumpet. And after giving Mr. Ayers an impromptu lesson on violin, Gupta insisted the man's got magic fingers.

"What I notice in him when we play together is a sort of different glint in his eyes; there's a different character," Gupta said. "It's the student at Juilliard, the really brilliant, talented, quick student. That hasn't gone away."

Nor has the dream that whatever instrument he holds in his hands, something is out there and possibly within reach, something pure and magical and uncompromised.

"Mr. Russo," he asked his friend after the recording session, "do you think I could be good again?"

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South Bay Musician's Mission to Help Others

Jefferson Award Winner: George Garcia Gange

SAN JOSE (CBS 5)
You'll rarely find George Garcia Gange without a 14-stringed Filipino folk instrument in his arms. Dubbed the "Music Man With a Mission," he makes music to make others feel good, from veterans in Palo Alto, to seniors in nursing homes.

"Like my wife says and my parents, who have the same passion, I like to help people who cannot pay me back," George explains.

George, a retired U.S. Navy air traffic controller, founded his musical group in 1998 with other Filipino American veterans. They're called the Fil-Am Vets Rondalla. The group wanted to share with the Filipino community the rondalla introduced by Spain that's become part of the Filipino folk tradition.

"I would like them to know their roots and that we have a culture we can be proud of," George says.

"You feel at home," adds Ray Tanjoco, who works in Hospice and Palliative Care at the Palo Alto Veterans Administration. "It's like you're back in the Philippines again, you get that nostalgic feeling."

Ray says he's seen George perform for free at events ranging from Filipino American festivals to community fundraisers.

"I don't know if he loves the music, loves the instrument or want to help others," Ray says.

All of the above, says George. In the last decade, his rondalla team has raised money for a number of causes, including tens of thousands of dollars for the USO and its equivalent in the Philippines, victims of Hurricane Katrina, the earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia, and last year's flood and mudslide in the Philippines.

"If a small group of people that I'm leading can do it, I hope much bigger organizations and individuals can follow my lead," George says.

George is also known for helping hundreds of people in San Jose who can't come to the Philippine Consulate General's Office in San Francisco because of failing health or transportation problems. He arranges a South Bay meeting so officers like Vice Consul Leah Rodriguez can help Filipino American seniors with legal matters like passport applications.

Leah explains, "He's a selfless individual. He's very patient and it's very easy to work with him."

George is happy to help: "When I see the self-confidence, the self-esteem goes up when I help those people, I feel good inside."

So for sharing rondalla music and fundraising for disaster victims worldwide, this week's Jefferson Award in the Bay Area goes to George Garcia Gange.

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Dog leads master -- a Pine County investigator -- straight to unconscious man

Pine City, Minn. -- A Pine City dog may not have the energy of a puppy anymore, but she mustered up enough of her skills to lead her master straight to an unconscious man.  Police believe the act saved the man's life.

On Monday evening, Brett Grinde took his 15-year-old dog, Effie, out for their usual walk.  But within a couple minutes, Effie started pulling on the leash -- she was insisting on a different route.

"She basically started pulling to the right and 99 percent we go left," Grinde said from his Pine City home on Tuesday.

Effie then took off running -- causing Grinde to follow behind.  Eventually, the 15-year-old German shorthair dog came to an abrupt stop in the driveway of a neighbor.

"So I'm running, and I cut the corner of the driveway and I look, and she's standing by an older gentleman that's laying face down," Grinde said.

Effie started licking the man's face and then turned to her master -- who just happens to be a long-time investigator with the Pine County Sheriff's Department.

"Twenty-eight years as a police officer, you know how to do the first response, the CPR, the abcs," Grinde said.

Grinde was able to clear the 94-year-old man's airway.  Within seconds, that man started to groan and regain consciousness.  All the while, Effie the dog just watched.

"She laid down on his other side and then came and nudged me on the elbows and just kind of stood over him," Grinde said.

On Tuesday night, the man remained in serious condition at North Memorial Medical Center.  Police believe he went out for the mail or to take out the garbage, slipped on the ice and may have been outside for hours.  His family asked we not release his name.

But relatives did call Brett to thank him for what he did.  Brett's response?  Thank my dog.

"I never thought in a million years something like this would happen, but it was meant to be.  It was in God's hands and somebody turned her that way," he said.

Effie, by the way, also got a few bonus treats on Monday.  Brett said she's also likely due for a pork chop or plate of spaghetti -- which she loves.

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New bird species found in rainforests of Borneo

By Doreen Walton  - Science reporter, BBC News 

A new species of bird has been spotted in the rainforests of Borneo.

Leeds University biologist Richard Webster first glimpsed the bird from a canopy walkway 35m above ground.

The spectacled flowerpecker, a small, wren-sized, grey bird, was feeding on some flowering mistletoe in a tree. On one sighting it was heard singing.

The bird has white markings around its eyes, belly and breast. It has not yet been given a scientific name because so little is known about it.

Dr David Edwards, a tropical ecologist at the University of Leeds, identified the bird as a new species from photographs.

"It's like a dream come true," he said. "I've spent all these years, decades, watching birds and all you want to do really is discover a new species to science.

"All that tropical field work has paid off, all the mosquitoes, the leeches, the rainstorms and the mud have been worthwhile."

The team caught sight of the birds several times in the days following its first appearance.

They were working in the Danum Valley Conservation Area in Sabah, Malaysia, last summer.

"The discovery of a new bird species in the heart of Borneo underlines the incredible diversity of this remarkable area," said Adam Tomasek, leader of WWF's Heart of Borneo initiative.

The findings are published in Oriental Bird Club's journal BirdingASIA.

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