Move Over Paris Hilton

One of the first reality series of note was The Simple Life starring Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie. In this week's episode of Ava the Diva, Mr. Bricks tries see if lightning will strike twice by getting a reality series called The Simple Life for Ava the Diva. I hope you enjoy.

Blessings,

Ava

xox

Pit Bulls and Parolees

Tia Torres of Animal Planet's Pit Bulls and Parolees

I stumbled upon a show on Animal Planet, it's called Pit Bulls and Parolees.

As most of you know I am a huge animal lover. My main weakness is dogs, especially ones that have been given a bum rap in life through abuse or neglect.  They are defenseless little creatures and none of them ever asked for what life dealt them. So then, there is pit pulls, who I feel are misunderstood from the get go. Combine the misunderstanding about the breed and sprinkle in rescued abused pit bulls with parolees and you have a great reality series concept. This series had me  at woof!!

The show is set around one very strong lady named Tia Torres who runs Villalobos Rescue Center, now the largest pit bull rescue facility in the country.

After learning about this woman I will never say I have had a tough life again because Tia really has had a tough life. She came from a broken home and experienced a tumultuous childhood. She longed for a family of her own from very early on and eventually began to adopt neighborhood dogs and stray cats.  Multiple marriages have ended with her husbands being sent off to prison.

Despite all of her struggles, she has always wanted to help others. She entered the Army with hopes of helping other people as a gang counselor. That is where she met one of her husbands. Unfortunately, he was a drug addict and ended up in prison. Wow, I would have never seen that coming.

After this marriage broke up it was scary going out on her own with approximately 100 pit bulls to care for and as a single mother, a positive change took place. During a rescue that concerned a dog whose owner was involved in a criminal case, Tia stumbled upon Web sites that advertised "prison pen pals." Tia spotted a man whose photo hypnotized her and she met husband #3.  (Do you notice a pattern here? Hello. ) She said he looked like a modern-day vampire, yet there was something gentle and kind about his photo. But then again, don't all ex-convict vampires have a gentle side - just sayin'?

The journey to save pit bulls was a rough one for Tia as pit bulls were in the news every week as public enemy number one. Tia worked feverishly trying to earn a reputable reputation saving the most maligned type of dog in the world. In March of 1999, things finally changed in her favor.

A pit bull attack on a two-year-old child prompted a city-wide panic. Hundreds of pit bulls were turned into shelters, let loose on the streets and some were even found tortured and tossed out like garbage. The shelters couldn't cope with the number of pit bulls being turned in, so they turned to Tia for help. After meeting with city officials, Tia created the Pit Bull Support Group, which combined free obedience classes, spaying and neutering, medical assistance and training seminars. Her goal was to restore a sense of calm in LA and let people know that their beloved pets were not going to turn on them. Having successfully launched this effort, Tia finally felt she made a true difference. Shelters from around the country asked her to speak as a pit bull expert and cities began to implement the same type of program and became proactive.

Tia eventually married that convict. Husband #3. Together they realized how difficult it was for parolees to succeed in this society. So, they came up with the idea of employing parolees to work at Villalobos Rescue Center.

In 2006, with the help of her family, Tia built a program called The Underdawgz, which serves as an entity within the Villalobos Rescue Center. The Underdawgz pairs parolees and pit bulls — both men and dogs nobody else wants. The parolees feed the dogs, clean the kennels and learn how to train the pit bulls in preparation for adoption.

Each day is a battle, but Tia finds conviction in her mission to turn society's trash into treasure and by the dogs who work their magic on the "baddest" good guys in town.

Ok, maybe her skills to pick out a wholesome clean-cut guy for marriage material could use a little work, who cares? I think she has a heart of gold and there is a special place in heaven for Tia.

Some day I plan on visiting her rescue and meeting Tia. I know I have also decide to try to help support her in any way I can. She really touched my heart and I am in awe of how she just always keeps picking herself up and going on despite what life throws at her....I think she is part pit bull. I mean that in a very good way.

Blessings,

Ava

xox

Don't change the channel

My Own Reality Series?

Posted on October 6, 2010 by Recording Artist Ava Aston

Sometimes I think I belong in my own reality series. Not just to get fame like those Kardashian girls, but because sometimes even I have to just sit back and laugh at myself and my own life.

This photo of me was snapped paparazzi style on a recent trip to the mall. You can see from the photo, just going to mall can be an event to alert the media. My family and friends have learned to call each little adventure in my life an episode. Sometimes I can star in an episode all by myself or sometimes I have special guest stars like my Sweetie, or my mom or one of my sisters, my Dad (when he is here from Greece), one of the four dogs, Mr. Bricks…anyone really who comes into contact with me is subject to having unexplained shenanigans happening right in front of their eyes.

These episodes are nothing that is planned or scripted and usually there isn’t a camera around for miles, which is too bad because I’ve been told my muckery would play well in prime time.  If I believed in past lives which, because of my faith, I don’t I would assume that I must have been a court jester in a previous life and this is just all bad karma coming back at me in my face.

As I have mentioned before I am technologically challenged. So many episodes involve things that get plugged in like a computer.

Now fortunately I do have a Mac Pro Book, because that helps cut down on some of the muckery that would surely ensue if I was using a PC, but even then I have been often told to step away from the keyboard!

There are also daily episodes with the cell phone and that tiny little machine I put in my ear to talk on my cell phone. They call it a blue tooth….yet, I put it in my ear. Hmmm, can’t figure why that is yet. Surely when it was being designed by rocket scientists they knew what part of the body it was going into, so why isn’t it called a blue ear?  I highly doubt that during the research and development phase someone came up with the bright idea that it would work better clipped onto the outside of the ear instead of clipping it to the tongue or inside the mouth…..I‘m just sayin’ they had to know!

I could go on for hours writing about some of the episodes I have experienced but I think I should find a TV producer and become a star of my own television series instead. What do you think?

Have a blessed day my friends!

Ava

xox