Leave Her Alone

Of all the things that USmagazine.com could focus their attention on, one of their biggest worries was how Kate Gosselin spent her 35th birthday today.
Instead of being at home spending time with her eight children, she was thousands of miles away to rehearse for Dancing With the Stars in L.A. Yesterday (Saturday) wasn't too far off from her day today either. She spent a portion of her morning practicing with her DWTS partner Tony Dovolani in her basement. After receiving gifts and lunch, she ran errands with her body guard. Someone told US magazine that the eight kids stayed home with the body guard's wife where they played outside and "ran around like they haven't been outside in a month."
Kate's action-packed couple days was quite a ways off from her 34th birthday, where she stayed home alone and Jon reportedly took a former mistress snowboarding in Utah.
So this could be considered a fairly interesting story that has probably caught many reader's attention, as it did mine. But as we talked about in class the other day, is this REALLY news worthy? It's not really all that important how she spent her 35th birthday if you ask me.
I don't think it should be made such a big deal that her birthday wasn't spent with her children, even if there was a tv show basically based solely around the little ones. Jon and Kate Plus 8, if you ask me, is probably a small regret in Kate's mind. I think it aided in the failure of she and Jon's marriage. Plus, I'm sure there's a lot of mothers out there that don't ALWAYS spend their birthday's with their children. It happens.
At the same time, its obviously a big obligation of hers to do all she can for Dancing With the Stars. She knew the commitment and she's got to stick to it.
Again, as we discussed in class, media needs to rethink what they are putting out there. Yes, it is what some of us may want to read/ask for. And yes, it is fairly entertaining. But a mother of eight, whose marriage has failed shouldn't have her personal life strewn about for all to see, no matter if she's a celebrity or a mediocre house wife.

Killer Whale Kills

This topic came up this weekend while I was visiting with an old volleyball coach. She and her family had just visited SeaWorld only weeks before the incident occurred.
A horrible incident happened at SeaWorld in Orlando, Florida just last month in mid-February. A Killer-whale seized it's trainer in the tight clench of it's jaws. He then continued to pull her underwater and thrash around with her in his grip. This horrific scene happened in front of a live and terrified audience. Forty-year-old Dawn Brancheau, one of the park's most experienced trainers, was killed.
Because of past violent experiences, Tilikum, the killer whale, was normally kept separate from other killer whales. Trainers were not allowed to swim in the tanks with him either. This was the third time that the whale has caused death to a person.
It was very undetermined about what had actually happened that day. Some say that Brancheau slipped and fell in the tank, while others said that Tilikum jumped out of the water and grabbed her.
However, a couple claimed that the killing occurred during the end of a noon-time show. Eldon Skaggs said that the trainer was on a platform with the whale, massaging it, when all of a sudden it pulled her under and began swimming around. An alarm sounded and the staff then rushed the audience out while workers began scrambling around with nets.
Another audience member claimed that the whale took off really fast, came back, shot up in the air, grabbed Brancheau by the waist and began thrashing around, one of her shoes falling off. Two other audience members made comments that the whale grabbed her by the arm and began tossing her around while swimming rapidly through the tank.
Tilikum reportedly did not respond well to directions during the show and was acting somewhat "childish."
This occurrence has been the second time in just two months that a trainer has been killed at a marine park.