Posted on: Thursday, October 28, 2004

ISLAND LIFE SHORTS
Looking for a hero for Hilary

Advertiser Staff and News Services

If you know of an unsung hero, or heroine, who happens to be an avid Hilary Duff fan, listen up.

"The Heroes TV Show," on Oceanic Cable 16, has a last-minute opening for a deserving hero to meet the singer this weekend. (She sings Saturday at Blaisdell Arena.) An earlier winner, alas, won't be here, so the show's executive director, Michael Lum, at mike@heroestv.com, is eager to ferret through a new roster of nominees. Ask someone to nominate you; don't self-nominate, pul-leeze. Provide reason and contact information by 7 p.m. today. Then hope for the winning call.

Make Halloween safe for your pet

Don't let Fido get spooked on Halloween. Here are a few tricks for treating your four-legged friend right (from Bayer Animal Health and Dr. Jeff Werber, veterinarian and pet-health reporter):

• Keep candy out of a pet's reach. Not only can chocolate be poisonous for some dogs, but candy wrappers and lollipop sticks can be hazardous if ingested.
• Dogs should be kept in a separate room during trick-or-treating to reduce potential confrontations with visitors. Make sure pets wear proper identification in case they make a quick escape.
• If Fido or Fifi dons a costume, make sure it's safe.
• Keep candle-lit pumpkins out of reach of wagging tails and curious pets to avoid a fire.
  
  
  

FINAL WORD

Movie industry analyst Gitesh Pandya | of boxofficeguru.com, on Ben Affleck and his string of flop movies — including "Surviving Christmas," which grossed $3.8 million last weekend:

"The name Ben Affleck is becoming one that people might want to stay away from. He's not Pauly Shore yet, but he should follow Matt Damon's model and do action films."