No news so far about Zero, just that he arrived already on 21 January at Seneca Park in Rochester. While waiting for first reports on how he is adjusting to his new environment and Aurora, the widow, here some reflections of Zero while contemplating in the moat after his fall in 2008, made available by Jim Stingl who was so kind to send me Zero's verse....
"And now a word from Zero, who in addition to being a polar bear in
Milwaukee is evidently a bad poet:
Hey everybody, what's happening, yo 'sup, I've fallen and in this case I
can get back up.
I just don't want to, if you really must know, maybe I'll stay here
until the first snow.
You've probably read that I'm down in the moat, send ACORN* over so I'm
able to vote.
It happened this week as I played with my toys, I'm suing the zoo and
all it employs.
Surviving the fall should go on a plaque, I'm bigger than Ringo and I
still write back.
It wasn't quite graceful, I hit with a splat, do you think this white
fur makes me look fat?
Life in a moat is sometimes a hassle, especially when it doesn't even
come with a castle.
You're really not supposed to fall in a gorge, unless of course you're
Curious George.
For me this canyon is rather cathartic, but still I'd rather be up in
the Arctic.
Walking on sea ice before it's all melted, instead with peanuts I'm
constantly pelted.
I'd sooner be living in this tiny box, than out there with you and your
tail-spinning stocks.
If I could escape I'd eat you, you know, up here on Blue Mound, that's
how we roll.
This moat is my home now come shine or come rain, unless y'all offer a
ride on the train.
That's my demand, you bet I'm emphatic, either that or a toy from thecool Mold-A-Matic*.
I wound up down here in the blink of an eye, oh, and your cousins, the
bonobos, said to say "Hi."
I'm staying positive and saying my prayers, please God I'm not linked
with that terrorist Ayers.
Sure, I'm stuck on this parcel of land, but free from the stunts of the
UW band.
I like where I am, don't make such a fuss, and it's safer than driving
an MCTS bus.
It's nifty down here with the nets and the sewers, it helps me get over
the choke by the Brewers.
By the way, I didn't fall, I was actually pushed, but here at the zoo
they're keeping it shushed.
OK, I'm lying, yet you have to admit, people now come here
lickety-split.
Folks dig animals caught up in trouble, it's surprising they don't raise
the prices to double.
People show up like it's middle of summer, I keep scanning the crowd for
Joe the Plumber.
For once it's not about darling Mahal, the orangutan everyone likes cuz
he's small.
Or Samson, who even these years after croaking is still tops in your
hearts and totally smoking.
If it weren't for my fall, you wouldn't care one iota, and don't even
get me started on Lota.
At long frickin' last, it's all eyes on Zero, you're talking to me,
aren't you, De Niro? "
Source: What's worse: Bear's accident or his verse?
JIM STINGL, Publication Date: October 17, 2008
*Notes:
-Zero's fall, and in consequence his verse, happened in October 2008, in the heat of the up-coming US elections. In the comments I will copy an article Jim sent to me which explains the role of ARCON, just for all who are not familiar with it...
-Mold-A-Matic (better known as Mold-A-Rama) has machines at various locations at Milwaukee Zoo. You put in a little money and, while you watch, the machine molds a bear or elephant or other animal out of plastic, and it's yours to keep. Kids love it. More about them and how they work here and here...
This is a molded polar bear from a machine in St.Louis Zoo. I didn't find one from Milwaukee Zoo.Photo credits/& related: Milwaukee Zoo, WISN (see also slideshow), Mold-A-Rama Ville
That's what Jim sent me after I asked him about ARCON and why he had mentioned them...
AntwortenLöschen"...the group ACORN was being accused of voter registration fraud (see story below) so I thought it would be funny to suggest that they would even help zoo animals to vote. ....
ELECTION 2008 FBI probing group's voter registration work <|> ACORN says it hasn't been notified of the inquiry
Publication Date: October 17, 2008 Page: 12 Section: A News Edition: Final
The FBI is investigating whether the community activist group ACORN helped foster voter registration fraud around the nation before the presidential election.
A senior law-enforcement official confirmed the investigation, and a second senior law-enforcement official said the FBI was looking at results of inquiries in several states, including a raid on ACORN's office in Las Vegas, for any evidence of a coordinated national effort.
Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because Justice Department regulations forbid discussing ongoing investigations, particularly so close to an election.
Two spokesmen for ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, said Thursday that the FBI has not contacted the group.
"ACORN has not been notified that we are the target of an investigation by any authorities - nor should we be," spokesman Kevin Whelan said in a statement. "ACORN members have done a good and patriotic thing by helping bring more than a million of their fellow citizens into our democratic process."
ACORN says it has registered 1.3 million young people, minorities and poor and working-class voters. More than 13,000 ACORN workers in 21 states recruited low-income voters, who tend to be Democrats.
But some ACORN employees have been accused of submitting false voter registration forms, including some signed "Mickey Mouse" or the names of other fictitious characters.
In Milwaukee, 37 former ACORN workers are among at least 50 voter registrars targeted by investigators for turning in questionable registration cards. ACORN officials have said they found much of the fraud themselves, fired the workers and alerted authorities before the cards were turned in.
The three registration workers charged to date all were employed by a different group, the Community Voters Project.
Republican presidential nominee John McCain and House Republicans have been pushing for the Justice Department to investigate ACORN to make sure ballots by ineligible or fraudulent voters are not counted on Nov. 4.
The issue also has become fodder for the campaign trail. Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, campaigning in Maine, criticized Democrat Barack Obama on Thursday for not disavowing ACORN.
Obama has denied any significant ties to ACORN. He and two other lawyers represented ACORN in 1995 in a lawsuit against the state of Illinois to make voter registration easier, and he hired a firm with ties to the group for a massive get-out-the-vote effort during this year's primary.
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Larry Sandler of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report from Milwaukee.
Copyright 2008, Journal Sentinel Inc