“Rabbits that Don’t Fit IN”

“Rabbits that don’t fit in” a series of portraits of rabbits that no longer fit in. Once contributing members of society, these rabbits, through personal choices and circumstances now find themselves as outsiders. The stories about Thumper & Bella, Captain Flopsy, Cynthia O’Hare, Pelt, Velvet Sheen, Jack Cotton, Energizer, Brer and Jessica Rabbit, Trix, Sir Grey March and more.

Cynthia O’Hare

rab1 — Cynthia “Cindy” O’Hare was born into great wealth as the great great grand daughter of the O’Hare celery dynasty. Her great great grand father, Bugsy O’Hare a Scottish immigrant saw a future in celery and took the 3 celery seeds he brought from Scotland and turned it into a multi generational celery empire. Cindy resented her wealthy upbringing and the affluence that surrounded it. She rebelled against her background by sabotaging the tractors of nearby wealthy farmer’s. When eventually caught, her Father sent her away to boarding school. There she met some fellow students who championed the cause of Bunny trafficking in South East Asia. The cause absorbed her and after graduating she traveled to Da Nang to pursue a life of an undercover agent for the Vietnamese government hunting down traffickers and rescuing their captive bunnies. Her where abouts are not entirely known, but she was apparently sited 3 months ago traveling on the back of a cargo van headed towards the border of Cambodia.

20160608_162232_BEST[1] — Pelt never knew his parents growing up on the East side of Dublin where street urchins were his siblings and the police his parents. Always feeling a sense of abandonment and lack of belonging, his life on the streets lead him from one bad situation to the other. As a teenager he eventually settled into a pack of gypsy hares that roamed from village to village finding work when available and scavenging the rest of the time. Pelt felt a kindship with these transient rabbits, with many of their childhoods more challenging than his own, he found comfort in never settling in one place. Their travels took them as far away as the Himalayas and along the way to Pelt a spiritual journey was revealed. His path lead him to work with authors such as Herman Hesse and Satre. Today he lives in Lone Pine, CA where he teaches workshops on his philosophy “The Journey”.

20160608_162222_BEST[1] — Velvet Sheen is a former actress from Los Angeles by way of Bangor, Maine. Velvet grew up as an outgoing child always entertaining her parents and friends. She loved to sing and act, but her outlets were limited in the small town of Dover-Foxcroft, Maine. She promised herself that when she graduated from high school she would travel to LA and pursue her dream of becoming an actress. At the age of 18 she traveled cross country on a Greyhound bus landing in Santa Monica. Innocent and knowing no one she quickly learned that the entertainment business in LA was very different than the world she envisioned as a child growing up. While working as a part time seamstress to make ends meet, she pursued an idea to utilize her talents. She had an acquaintance who had a disabled Burning Man art car turn it into a giant carrot car. With this she started a business called “Carrot Tours” where she would entertain tourists while driving around Los Angeles touring the homes of the stars. Today her carrot car is a local icon and can be seen driving around LA with Velvet on top singing and dancing.

rab3 — Jack spent his formative years as a welter weight boxer on the streets of Philadelphia. $5 a win for every kid 10 lbs or over your weight that you could knock out in 8 minutes or less. After 5 years Jack knew the odds and money were better on the betting side of the ring. In 2004 Jack took the rest of his earnings and a black eye and drove to Reno. Reno was a hot bed of sports betting and boxing was huge. Some of the fighters in those street fights went on to turn pro and Jack knew their strengths and weakness. His first bets were going to be on his former sparring partners. He quickly made a name for himself in the under world of Reno sports betting. Over a year Jack’s earnings were substantial and he decided to up his game and move to Vegas where there were even more opportunities. The move proved to be the wrong one. In Vegas there were strict territories and the high stakes betting games were much riskier. One day Jack made the wrong choice betting against another bookie and found himself asleep in an alley just outside of town for 3 days. Jack knew when to quit and took his dwindled earnings and headed West to California. Today you can find Jack at the Card Room on Pacific Avenue playing 5 card draw 6 days a week.

Energizer

20160608_162239_BEST[1] — His real name is Midnight Potter. Nobody knows much about his past, but what is known is that his parents were illegal immigrants from Azerbaijan who mysteriously disappeared from their Brooklyn apartment when Energizer was just 6 years old. It’s thought that they were taken by the KGB. He was sent to live with his Aunt in Manhattan. His Aunt put him in a private school and protected him from his past. Midnight got his nickname “Energizer” from the kids in school who were always amazed at his boundless energy. He ran to classes, was involved with many of school’s committees, was extremely popular and managed a perfect grade average. After school he made money modeling young men’s clothing for a well known magazine. After graduating he continued to pursue his modeling career until his Azerbaijan background caught up with him at the age of 24. A Soviet spy ring had recognized him from one of his photo shoots and brought him in for questioning. His parents, still alive, had been spies for the KGB and were being held at an undisclosed location. With the promise of reuniting him with his parents he was recruited to infiltrate a subversive group in Kazakhstan. He was sent there in the Summer of 2009 and has not been heard from since. It is believed that he had a reunion with his parents and that he is somewhere in the Ural Mountains on another secret mission.

20160608_162214_BEST[1] — Captain Flopsy, born Benjamin Tod Hopper, he graduated at the top of his class at the Naval Academy at a time when most rabbits were afraid of water. After leaving the Academy Flopsy quickly rose through the ranks of the Royal Mammal Navy. After 10 years in the RMN with a flawless record, Flopsy was commanding a routine “Hunt and Peck” operation in the China Seas. On a calm night in August, one of the recruit rabbits below deck was suffering from sea sickness disrupting the sleep of the other recruits. A fight broke out and Flopsy was summoned below deck. The recruit was punished and sent to the Brig where he was forbidden food. Flopsy was later caught sneaking celery to the starving prisoner. Under Article 671523 of the RMN providing sustenance to a prisoner is punishable by court marshal. Flopsy was stripped of his rank, court marshalled and dishonorably discharged. He now lives in a small village outside of Buenos Aires where the villagers treat him with reverence for his humanitarian activism.

rab6 — Sir Grey March Rhodes Scholar, Nobel Prize winner, a knighthood from the King of Sweden, and a former Lutheran Minister out of Louisiana. Sir Grey began his life simply. He grew up poor on a farm in Missouri where his parents worked as migrant workers on local farms. Grey would help out where ever needed, but looked forward to each evening when his Mother would read to him. His mother had a voracious appetite for reading, while most other families couldn’t read at all. Grey grew up around and because of books. When in school he excelled way beyond his grade level. This eventually lead to a scholarship at Oxford. From there he went on to work with some of the world’s leading literary and political figures. In 1999 he won the Nobel Prize for Literature for his complete works on the Egyptian revolt of 1914 and it’s pathway to peace in the Middle East. After winning the prize his life began to spiral down hill. His mother, passed away and his search for new inspiration was failing. This lead to a prolonged season of drinking and self doubt. After 3 years of what seemed to be the end of Sir Grey, he packed his bags and moved to Cairo where he teaches Arabic Literature at Helwan University to a new generation of enthusiastic readers.

What can you say about Trix. An electronics nut who used to repair hydraulic actuators on aircraft carrier, avionics elevators took up trade as a “jack of all” in an electronics shop in Sacramento. His thing. E-Bikes. He has put a battery and on a motor on everything from tricycles to wheelchairs. His interest in technology lead him to spend several years in the dangerous underworld of Hare Hacking in the 1990’s. He was never caught until an error in judgement lead to his arrest in 2002. He used a bubble algorithm to hack into the main frame of Green-Green Growers, the largest lettuce grower in the world. By that time the Feds (the Federal Bureau of Bunnies) had cracked the bubble algorithm and were able to track the source to Trix’s computer. He served 3 years in a low security prison. Trix now lives in Chico working for a start up that creates Mobile apps for rabbits.

Brer and Jessica Rabbit

Two people couldn’t be more different. They met at a transit dock along the Panama Canal on their way to different cities in South America. Brer from Rome, Indiana and Jessica from Berlin, New Hampshire. Brer thought he had bought a one way pass on a banana boat until the operations manager threw him and his luggage off in Panama. But, there is where he met Jessica.

Jessica a wealthy stockbroker from New York was on layover from her cruise around the world. A dream she had worked for years to travel the world by ship. Brer a poet and Jack of all trades had a similar wonder lust for the world, but was traveling by fishing, banana and cargo ships to see the world. He and Jessica immediately clicked. They shared similar dreams and a similar sense of humor. While walking along the docks they came upon a retired French ship’s captain sitting beside his last vessel, an oil carrier for the French Navy. He told them that he was done with the sea and that he would be selling his ship.

The inquisitive Brer and Jessica asked “How much”? Because the ship was old and he just wanted to recoup some of his costs he told them $12,000 US. Jessica looked at Brer and took out her check book and wrote the Captain a check for $12,000.

Brer and Jessica fell in love. Spent a year in Panama fixing the vessel and now travel the world. They port at major cities for months at a time using a crane on the bow of the ship to off load artwork from incoming ships for major Museums around the world.

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