Author Archives: Cola and Fizz

Will There be a Triple Crown Winner This Year?

Go American Pharoah!
American_Pharoah_Arrival28
(Adam Coglianese)

Can American Pharoah actually make it this year? 37 years have passed since the last Triple Crown winner, and many are giving up hope that it can be done in this day and age. Last year saw the same situation with California Chrome. He won the first two races, with high hope for the Crown, but unfortunately another horse stepped on him and he could not make the distance.

The Belmont Stakes is this Saturday, on NBC with coverage starting early but post time is approximately 6:50 ET. This is the longest race of the three, a mile and half, competing against 7 others many familiar from the past two races and most fresh from only racing one of them.

American Pharoah is clearly the favorite with so much riding on a win. Only 11 other horses have ever done it. 22 others have done exactly what he has so far and lost. Our hopes are with you Pharoah!

Amercan Pharoah at Belmont with pony friend Smokey:
American_Pharoah_June_3_credit_susie_raisher4
(Susie Raisher)

Pony Express Google Doodle

Today, April 14, is the 155th Anniversary of the Pony Express! To celebrate the Google Doodle on the google main search page is a game that you can play.

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You are the pony express rider trying to make it through 3 different legs of your journey while avoiding obstacles and collecting as many pieces of mail as possible along the way.

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At the end you are welcomed into town and get a score which helps the overall global score of everyone playing together and which you can share with your friends:

ponyexpress

You can see I did not do every well, but it was my first time!

Here is the video Google made about the Pony Express and what went into making this game:

Hope you get to play the game and good luck!

Marvel Phase 9

Take a peak at Marvel Phase 9, or in other words, the April Fool’s joke that I missed but still wanted to share in case you had not seen it yet either.

Take a peak at what Marvel has “planned” for phase 9 – dogs and the evil villain LoKitty!

Take a look at that team:
phase9

With Archie as Captain America:
cap

Rutabaga as the Hulk:
hulk

Zelda as Black Widow:
blackwidow

Robot as Iron Man:
ironman

Appa as Hawkeye:
hawkeye

Mr. Miles as Thor:
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The Avengers movies are simply awesome, so I cannot assume a dog team could do it better. It would however be very adorable should this ever actually become a thing.

– Staff

Cute April Fools’ Day Jokes 2015

April 1 has come and gone again, did anyone get you with a good prank? As usual, many companies and websites have their own jokes online. Here are some of the cute ones, just in case you missed them!

1. PetCo – Pet selfie sticks
dogselfiestick

Why would you not want a dog on a stick selfie stick? Not to mention that you get a free cat selfie stick with the purchase of any dog selfie stick. They are activated by “woof” or “meow” commands, simple for your pet to use, interface with Facetime, and your pet can share the photos with you via the social network of their choice. Available only April 1, not sold in stores.Just look at that pet friendly design:

dogselfiestick2

2. elgooG – Google backwards

Today Google put up their search page backwards, which also displays search results backwards as well. You can find the page here. Fun for all your cute search needs:
backwardgoogle

3. The Happy Hippo Cafe
happyhippo

London’s first pop-up hippo cafe was to open this summer from June 4-11! The Cafe would feature two baby pygmy hippos named George and Bungle. You could watch the handlers feed them, then stay for food, drinks, and a Hungry Hungry Hippo Tournament.

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4. Cute Cloud

This year bing released the Cute Cloud, a webpage to search the cute cloud full of all things cute and furry! As the video on the page states – “The search for cute is universal.” So, search all of the cutest images, videos, and more that the internet has to offer on bing!

cutecloud

5. T-Mobile Pets Un-leashed
petsunleashed
Do your pets need smart phones or data plans? Does your carrier not offer that? Well, then dump them and head over to T-Mobile who will add your pet to your plan for only $5 a month. See the video below for more info, warning contains bad language and suggestive themes:

6. DocSend Dachshund delivery service
docsend

DocSend, a digital document delivery services, whose name sounds like the dachshund dog decided to make real life delivery possible using a highly trained dachshund. The dog will appear at your door, you strap your document to its back, and the dog will report back to you how the recipient reacted. The dog will even shred the message for you should you desire that after delivery!

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docsend3

 

Happy April Fools’ Day!

Magic Rabbit – Ili Pika

The very endangered Ili Pika (that is i-l-i), or Magic Rabbit, has been photographed in the wild for the first time in 20 years!

Take a look at the adorable creature:
llipika1
(Li Weidong)

Conservationist Li Weidong discovered the animal and named it after his hometown, he is also the one who found and photographed the animal again. He and the other members of his team are the only ones to have conducted studies and completed a census of the animal’s numbers. The population of the Ili Pika has decreased 70 percent since its discovery in 1983, it is believed less than 1000 now live in the wild. If true, the Ili Pika is rarer than the Panda. When first discovered there were thought to be 2900.

It lives in the mountain regions of Xinjiang region of China where its habitat is threatened due to climate change. They have had to move up higher in the mountains as the permanent snow recedes to high altitudes. Their numbers might also be declining due to predation and disease.

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(Li Weidong)

These guys are tiny, only about 8 inches long, but easily able to scale the bare rock walls of their mountain homes.
llipika3
(Li Weidong)

They feed on grasses that grow at high elevations. These Pikas live solitary lives, and are not as vocal as other Pika species. Not much else is known about them, as there are so few and they are so difficult to find. While the Ili Pika was listed as an endangered species in 2008, there is no official organization or team dedicated to researching or protecting it. It is also not officially recognized as a species on China’s List of Wildlife under Special State Protection. A sad reality is that these adorable creatures may become extinct in the very near future.

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(Li Weidong)

Will the Ili Pika be saved from extinction? Only time will tell, as elusive as it has been it may disappear completely just as quietly.

– FT staff

Sources:
CNN – Meet the Animal that’s rarer — and cuter — than a panda
Daily Mail – Meet the ‘magic rabbit’: the very cute creture which is more endangered than the panda

New Zootopia Concept Art

Disney is working on a new animated movie called Zootopia which features a city of all different kinds of animals living together. Each part of the city is specific to the varying needs of the different types of animals who call it home. The story will follow a rabbit, Officer Judy Hopps, who joins a police force of larger, stronger animals. To prove herself she teams up with a scam-artist fox to solve a mystery. Zootopia will open in theaters March 4, 2016.

Here is concept art featuring the fox Nick Wilde:
ZOOTOPIA (Working Title)
(Disney)

And here is art of the city:
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(Disney)

I am excited to see more actual art as the movies gets closer to release!

-Fizz

Slow Motion Dog in Snow

As spring starts to set in there is hope for all those still covered in snow! But, why not watch a Golden Retriever named Buddy enjoying the snow in slow motion:

You can see the individual snowflakes settling on his fur!
Screenshot 2015-03-09 at 12.02.59 PM

Just look at the floppy face and ears, and the way he seems so content!
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The gorgeous flowing fur!
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If only I could enjoy winter like that. The video is equal parts soothing and causing me to want to run and romp in freshly falling snow.

-Fizz

Ringling Brothers Circus to End Elephant Acts

In a surprising move Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey, parent company Feld Entertainment, announced they are phasing out their elephant acts by 2018. While elephants have been an iconic part of their circus for a century, the decision comes amid growing pressure from the public over how the animals are treated.

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(Heinz Kluetmeier, PR Newswire)

Ringling Bros. has 13 performing elephants which will be taken to their Center for Elephant Conservation in Florida after their performances are phased out. The circus started the Center in 1995 to help preserve the highly endangered Asian Elephant. The company has 43 elephants in total, of the animals not on tour 29 live at the 200 acre facility and one is on breeding loan to the Fort Worth Zoo. This is the largest herd of Asian elephants in North America, and 26 elephants have been born at the facility. Each elephant costs $65,000 a year to take care of. At first the Center will only be open to researchers, caretakers, and other interested parties studying Asian elephants. But they hope to be able to allow the public to eventually visit for educational purposes and because it is so rare to see Asian elephants.

Ringling Bros Circus ap
(AP Photo/Field Entertainment Inc., Gary Bogdon)

Ringling Bros. will continue to use other animals in its shows including horses, dogs, and tigers. A troupe of Mongolian camel stunt riders was recently added to the Circus Xtreme show.

Horse:
circ7
(James Estrin/The New York Times)

Dog:
circ6
(James Estrin/The New York Times)

Tigers:
circ4
(James Estrin/The New York Times)

circ9
(James Estrin/The New York Times)

The executive vice president Alana Feld stated “There’s been somewhat of a mood shift among our consumers. A lot of people aren’t comfortable with us touring with our elephants.”

Chairman and CEO Kenneth Feld, of Feld Entertainment, stated:

…this is the most significant change we have made since we founded the Ringling Bros. Center for Elephant Conservation in 1995. When we did so, we knew we would play a critical role in saving the endangered Asian elephant for future generations, given how few Asian elephants are left in the wild . . .This decision was not easy, but it is in the best interest of our company, our elephants and our customers.”

Many cities have passed anti-circus or anti-elephant ordinances making it difficult to plan tours. It is also incredibly expensive for Ringling to try and fight any of these measures in court. Past legal fights include a 14 year long battle over unproven allegations that circus employees mistreated the elephants. That settlement cost $25.2 million. The false claim was filed by a former barn helper who had been paid $190,000 to do so by animal rights groups, and found to be a paid witness lacking credibility in court. The company wants all of this time, effort, and money to actually go into the conservation of Asian elephants instead.

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(James Estrin/New York Times)

The circus will now focus more on human acts of bravery and strength.

If you want to see the last of these elephant performances check out one of the Ringling’s shows before 2018. Overall, this will be better for the preservation of Asian elephants. They will live as elephants should and bring awareness through that rather than traveling and performing in an unnatural or stressful way.

How long will it be before other smaller circuses phase out their elephant acts as well?

-Fizz

Sources:
Fox 411 – Ringling Bros. Eliminating Iconic Elephant Acts from Performances
USA Today – Ringling Bros. Eliminating Elephant Acts