Three Blind Mice… Err, Rats

Our new pet rats are great, and Oreo is becoming a real friend.  Bobby Jack, however, seems very nervous all the time.  He squeaks and sneezes a lot, and he uses his nose to try to burrow into my hand when I hold him.  We are thinking he might be blind.  I don’t know that much about rat behavior; these are my first pet rats.  But it just seems like Bobby Jack can’t see.  Are there vision tests for rats?  I guess I have some research to do about rat blindness, squeaking, and sneezing…




Blindness

Blindness is an interesting movie starring Julianne Moore.  Think Outbreak, except this time the disease that’s afflicting people at a record rate isn’t fatal, but it causes sudden blindness.  The movie was alright; I liked the ending, but there are a few scenes that are extremely disturbing to watch.  As always, I don’t want to go into much detail to avoid spoiling it for people.  Julianne Moore is a great actress, and her performance in this movie is not an exception to her reputation as such.  She plays a woman who does not contract the disease, therefore she still has her sight but she pretends like she doesn’t in order to be able to stay with her afflicted husband.  There were several large flaws with the movie (and the husband’s character), but it was entertaining and thought-provoking; never a bore.  Would I recommend it?  Probably not to the average movie-watcher, but if you like disaster films, medical dramas, or if you just want to see what a large city would look like if it were abandoned by all that could see, leaving only thousands of blind people, then check it out.  But I’m warning you, the view of the city isn’t pretty, and at times, neither was the movie.