Chief Brody's favorite movie featured on TV tonight

Steven Spielberg's classic "JAWS" is on TV tonight, and Chief Brody enjoyed watching his favorite movie while swimming around his aquarium.

Chief Brody loves everything about JAWS and even likes to have his picture taken with JAWS memorabilia such as this replica (pictured) of the ORCA being attached by the great white shark, who is eating Quint in this particular re-enactment. The toy is from the Todd MacFarlane collection.

Exclusive! Rare home video of Chief Brody swimming

View rare footage of Chief Brody enjoying the warm waters of his tropical aquarium on a cold February day.

Oscars: Not for the beginning fishkeeper

This year marks my 20th year as a fish aquarium hobbyist. I'll never forget the excitement of getting that first aquarium - the 20 gallon that my parents bought for me in 1987. It's a hobby I've loved ever since. I've kept nearly every kind of tropical fish you can imagine, including tame choices like mollies, platties and guppies and more exotic specimen such as the piranha, fancy goldfish and, finally, the Oscar.

I feel like my years as an tropical fish hobbyist have been building up to this. Make no mistake - keeping an Oscar is hard work. Not only do they grow rapidly, demanding larger and larger tanks and ever-better filtration systems. They are also feisty, messy and tempermental. But that's just part of their amazing personalities.

Keeping Chief Brody happy is a full-time job. Consider the partial water changes that occur weekly. The twice-daily feedings. The weekly water testing (five different tests each time!). It's a lot of work, but I enjoy it and find it worthwhile.

I love that people read this blog and enjoy themselves. Some of you perhaps even consider getting an oscar of your own. But I want you, dear readers, to understand that a lot of work takes place behind the scenes. If you have never kept fish before, an oscar is not a wise first choice.

Chief Brody has grown a lot in the past 11 months

What a difference 11 months make! These images show the amazing growth of Chief Brody over the past 11 months.

In the photo at above left, he was just a baby Oscar exploring his new home on his first day there, on March 13, 2006. Above right, he is the undoubted sovereign of his domain.

The white tank decoration in the background gives some scale to the two images taken nearly a year apart. When he arrived in the 29-gallon tank, he was two inches long. Today, he is 6.5 inches long and growing more every day.