Man's Best Friend

Interestingly enough, health care professionals have noticed therapeutic effects through animal companionship; such as relieving stress, lowering blood pressure, and raising spirits. There is an account of a Yorkshire Terrier, belonging to Corporal William Wynne, used to cheer up wounded soldiers during the Second World War. However, the birth of therapy dogs can be contributed to Elaine Smith, an American who worked in England as a registered nurse. Smith noticed that patients responded better to a certain chaplain and his canine companion, a Golden Retriever; and upon returning to the United states in 1976 started a training program for dogs to visit institutions.

TVLesson, recently had the privilege to film videos for the Pet Prescription Team on the topic of therapy dogs and their effects on the people the encounter. Sure enough, through the canines friendly and playful demeanor they have brought smiles to patients of all ages:




Not only are these dogs trained to be playful and friendly, they are also taught a myriad of tricks. They are trained to sit, stay, play dead, shake, wave, spin, and much much more. Here is a short clip of some of the tricks the Pet Prescription Team teaches their dogs:

Jillian and Missy



Just looking at those pictures and watching this clip made my day 100 times better. Thank you to the Pet Prescription Team and to all of our loyal viewers and followers. Tune in later this week for a segment on a "snake snaaake snaaake o-ooo it's a snake."

-Mike

Burn Notice (or Fabricator Notice)

A Burn Notice is "an official statement by one intelligence agency to other agencies, domestic or foreign, that an individual or group is unreliable for any of a variety of reasons."


Guess that is where the title and premise of the hit TV Series, "Burn Notice" came from. Michael Weston, the main character, receives a burn notice and is left with nothing. With all his assets frozen, Weston becomes a freelance spy/private investigator to earn money for his ongoing investigation for the man who burned him. Weston, being incredibly resourceful, uses household items to create surveillance devices, wireless signal jammers, CCTV blinder, etc. I don't know how hard it is to create wireless jammers or CCTV blinders, but surveillance devices seem pretty simple:

Spy Sunglasses

Spy Stethoscope

Spy Scope

I guess this is the grown up version of all the spy toys I had as child. Maybe I should have become a spy (one of my childhood dreams) with my mathematics degree. Well, enough strolling down memory lane and back to matter at hand. However, even with all this surveillance material at our disposable, why waste the time and money when the internet has made it incredibly easy to find information about almost anyone through social networking sites. You can even follow TVLesson through our Twitter and Facebook page. It's scary to find out exactly how much information about you can be found on the Internet.

-Mike

Extra! Extra! Read All About It!!!

Time published an interesting article last month entitled, "How to Save Your Newspaper." Is it really possible to save the newspapers, when all that information is available on the internet for free? According to the Time, "it is now possible to contemplate a time when some major cities will no longer have a newspaper and when magazines and network-news operations will employ no more than a handful of reporters." Therefore, newspapers, like the dinosaurs, are a things of the past and on the verge of extinction. If you disagree, comment with your opinions.

Now let's move on to some breaking news:



First up, "The how-to site helps with flirting skills, or playing the banjo." That's right, this is an article in the OC Register on TVLesson. Definitely a milestone for TVLesson. It's been a tough year, but thanks to all of our members TVLesson is now a contender.

Now, I don't know how many of have heard, but Rosario Marin has resigned from her position as head of the State and Consumer Services Agency. According to the LA Times, Rosario "resigned Thursday after questions about income she received for giving speeches to private companies, including some that were doing business with her agency." Well, through these times I hope Rosario can remember the advice she gave TVLesson:

Thanks for tuning into TVLesson's Breaking News.

-Mike

Drum Roll Please!!!!

This post is a lot later than usual; but as the saying goes, "better late, than never." So as promised, the winner of the poker tournament can found in this picture:


Next hint: On the left side of the picture.

Figure it out yet? Well, if you guessed the guy in the green playing Starcraft. Sorry, you fail. The winner was our talented, up and coming star, Abe. When asked what he was going to do with his winnings, and I quote, "buy Mike whatever he wants." Thanks for the offer Abe, but spend the money on yourself or buy those 2 lovely young ladies in the picture a nice dinner. As to the mystery man in the green. He is Brad Park, our Research Dept. Director, and an INCREDIBLE Starcraft player. Wish I had recorded him playing, but trust me when I say he is AMAZING. Similar to this guy, but better (excuse some of the language used in this video):



To end here is a picture of Brad playing Starcraft (sorry Brad I know I said I wouldn't post a picture of you, but I just had to for all of our TVLesson viewers).


-Mike

Happy Birthday!!!

Happy First Birthday to TVLesson!!! No, the picture above is not of TVLesson, but isn't she adorable? This blog is dedicated to all of our users and to our wonderful staff. During this past year, TVLesson accomplished many milestones from celebrity interviews such as Gene LeBell, Frank Buckley, Gloria Alred, Jaime Chambers, WWE Superstars and many many others; to a complete site makeover; and added many new features like customizable theme pages, TVLesson toolbar, filmmakers program, and an expansive selection of articles.

TVLesson has had an amazing first year with many ups and downs, but promises their viewers that there will be many more features to come and that this is only the beginning. Stay tuned for more updates and here are some pictures of TVLesson's Anniversary Party:

Aftermath of hungry employees


Some of our team members playing pin the tail on the donkey

Our Media Director serenading the TVLesson Team

Prize Money for our Hold'em tournament, not sure who won; but I will update everyone on Monday.

Again, thank you to all of our viewers and may this year be more fruitful than the past. Tune in later this week for another blog update.

-Mike