Sunday night was Hollywood's biggest night of the year and while Lucky and I were not able to make it to the Oscars, seeing as we're working like dogs to get our new 21st Century dog guide (published by Random House) done. This year I brought Lucky over to a little Oscar party hosted by economic guru Nouriel Roubini who promised to not talk finance, but to talk films. There for the fun was black swan theory creator Nassim Nicholas Taleb, recently described by The Times as "the hottest thinker in the world." There was no other place I wanted Lucky to be this weekend because I wanted my little dog to get some hope from these two lucky guys and we were hoping Taleb could successfully predict Lucky's future, seeing as he has had a knack for major predictions in the past... No matter how good he may be at predictions, however, neither Taleb nor I could predict that we would run into each other the next day at Bloomberg News where I was speaking on pet rescue.
Now, in honor of the 81st Academy Awards, I decided I wanted to start the first annual Lucky Awards. Yes, I know there is Lucky magazine, but Lucky has great credibility, if only for the fact that Lucky Diamond came before Lucky Magazine and she's been a lap dog far longer than Paris Hilton's Tinkerbell. The Lucky Award is nothing about glamour, it's about the person or film and their contributions to a greater good. And of course Lucky will add extra points for animal-friendly contributions although ironically her favorite animated film this year was Wall-E, not the one about the panda or the dog! I guess Lucky's unpredictable (to everyone but Taleb perhaps).
Our Lucky Awards winners are a lot similar to this year's winners, but for different reasons than you may think. Slumdog Millionaire earns the Lucky paw for best picture because, yes, "dog" is in the title, but the film itself captures the tone of an area plagued by such plight but at the same time it brings hope to these areas where such honest, hard-working people live. Lucky's dear friend Dev Patel starred in the film, portraying the role of young man who overcomes adversity to win both the money and the girl. If you'll notice it's one of the few happy endings we saw in movies this year. We need that!
Our best actor Lucky paw goes to Mickey Rourke who this week lost his 126 year-old blind Chihuahua (18 in human years), Loki. Mickey earned Lucky's award because this year he's opened his heart so wide to the media, revealing the importance his dogs have made in his life. It really hit Lucky's soft spot. Rourke has sad numerous times that his dogs have saved his life, and most recently told us that, "Puppy love is the only thing that's truthful, honest." Lucky agrees with the pawcademy Kate Winslet win, whose humbling stage presence forever changed female performances as we know it. Lucky was touched to see Winslet thank nearly everyone who worked on The Reader, admitting there were no underdogs on set no matter the job. She also praised the late Anthony Minghella and Sydney Pollack, her family, children and while she thanked no pets this time, maybe her next win she will. Lucky's best supporting paws go to Heath Ledger for leaving behind a legacy that will never be forgotten, and Penelope Cruz who stole little Lucky's heart in both Vicki Christina Barcelona and Elegy, the latter being one of Lucky's favorite flicks of the year. Cruz is also the proud mother of Vino, a rescued dog who she found bleeding on the street.
Lucky's honorable paw's award goes to Sean Penn for taking on the role of Harvey Milk who was one of the first politicians to make major changes in both human and canine rights. Openly gay Milk was known for being the populist and was very open about his support of the dog poop laws in San Francisco, which has in turn helped dogs all across the county. Penn continues to uphold the values of Milk, addressing the Prop-8 protesters outside the Kodak Theatre by saying "We've got to have equal rights for everyone."
And while new icons are being named and crowned at the Oscars, we say goodbye to a national animal icon loved for nearly two decades, former Clinton presidency, First Cat, Socks. Socks was the iconic black and white cat adopted by the Clinton family who lived in the White House for eight years until former White House secretary Betty Currie took ownership of the feline in 2001 (Socks kept starting cat fights with the Clinton's lab, Buddy). Socks lived to the valiant age of 19 and will most definitely leave a legacy behind. Socks was the subject of the 1993 animated book, Socks Goes to Washington: The Diary of America's First Cat and even appeared with former owner (and President) Bill Clinton in a series of Central African Republic stamps in 1996. We will miss Socks but we must remember everyday that this legendary feline was a rescue who rose to the top of mountain. There are millions of cats (and dogs) available in shelters all across the country, waiting to go to a loving home. Check out PetSmart's rescue resource at Adoptions.Petsmart.com or PetSmart.com for more information.
And remember to check out www.AnimalFair.com for other adoption resources, more information on Lucky's new award and details on our upcoming book!
Lucky Diamond with Slumdog's Dev Patel!!
Lucky Diamond with alpha financial dog's Nouriel Roubini and Nassim Taleb!