Have you seen the new Star Trek movie yet? I have!
I know such movies have little to do with this blog, but when I saw the following picture I could not resist posting it:
(Blastr)
A guinea pig dressed in a Star Trek uniform (complete with little skirt)! If only I had sowing skills, or guinea pigs that tolerated clothes for pictures.
I did enjoy Star Trek Into Darkness. I have never seen the old movies, and hear it borrows some plot points, but it is worth watching if you are a fan.
Disney Nature films finally released the film Wings of Life in the US!
The film had a release date of 2011 for most of the world and goes under two other titles: Pollen and Hidden Beauty. The move is 77 minutes long following the story of the creatures who serve a vital role in pollination.
The film does a beautiful job of presenting the secretive and beautiful interaction between plants and the creatures who pollinate them so both can survive. You can read more about the movie at Moving Art.
You can purchase the Blu-Ray and DVD combination package from Amazon for $27.99.
Conan O’Brien once again had the segment Puppy Conan on last night’s show in honor of the Puppy Bowl.
The tiny replica set was wheeled out and Golden Retriever puppies played the roles of Conan, Andy, La Bamba, Ke$ha, and a set of sleepy puppy network executives.
Puppy Conan with wig and tie:
Puppy Andy was a bit squirmy so this is the best screen shot I got of him with Puppy Conan:
Puppy La Bamba with hat and tiny trombone (he did not like the hat and got it off later on):
Puppy Ke$ha hated her wig, and was wondering around trying to get it off, but she had a shirt on and lots of glitter upon her entrance to the set:
Puppy network executives who were very sleepy up in their box:
Close up:
Here is Conan holding Puppy Conan:
You can see the video of the segment on teamcoco.com.
It is that time again, the big game has been played and many advertising dollars went towards commercials. This year on CBS the price for 30 seconds of ad time was $3.7 – $3.8 million, with an expected audience of over 100 million viewers. I only watch the game for the commercials, and was kind of disappointed again this year. Coke did not have any cute ads this year, the one with the security cameras was good but the race one was not. But there were funny commercials not featuring cute animals which I enjoyed (my favorite of those ads was from Oreo).
The game actually surprised me. The power outage was a bit crazy but even though I did not care which team won the plays were amazing and the game was really close by the end. I do wonder if the blackout caused problems with which ad spots aired when, as there seemed to be a set of commercials aired twice in a row.
Here are a list of my favorite cute commercials:
1. Sketchers – “Man vs. Cheetah”
I have always loved Cheetahs, and gazelles, so this one makes the list. I love the wink from the gazelle.
2. Cars.com – “Wolf”
A wolf puppy! How can I not include this one?
3. Toyota RAV4 – “Wish Granted”
So this ad does not feature that many cute animals, but the dog and talking squirrels are great. Plus the commercial is really funny and much better than a lot of the ads overall.
4. Kia Sorento – “Space Babies”
Featuring cute baby animals and a funny-ish ending assures that this ad makes my list.
5. Doritos – “Goat 4 Sale”
I thought this one was funny and the goat was cute. In my opinion the Doritos commercials from the past couple years have been really interesting and inventive – I look forward to them each year.
6. Budweiser – “Brotherhood”
This was my favorite commercial! A great emotional story complete with baby Clydesdale. I could not have asked for more from this commercial, and a major plus given the brand’s other strange ads which ran multiple times during the game.
You can find all the commercials on youtube at adBlitz.
Puppy Bowl 9 is this Sunday (Feb 3, at 3 pm) on Animal Planet!
This years game returns with new adorable puppies, kitten halftime show, hamster blimp, Meep the bird, and on the sidelines this year are hedgehogs (possibly wearing tutus).
As usually, the Puppy Bowl airs before the “big game” so you do not have to miss either one! If you are unable to watch at 3, the Bowl replays a few times so you can catch it later.
Here are a few of the starting line up:
1. Althea the female Australian Shepherd and Catahoula Mix
2. Aurora the female Siberian Husky and Retriever Mix
3. Bessie the female Catahoula Leopard dog mix
4. Daisy the female Yorkshire Terrier
5. Marta the female Schnauzer and Beagle mix
6. Juniper the female Great Pyrenees
7. Nala the female Japanese Chin
8.Chestnut the male Labrador Retriever and Australian Shepherd mix
The full line up of puppies can be viewed at Puppy Bowl IX Starting Lineup
Today Nintendo announced a bunch of updates and new games for the Wii U. I am really excited for the announcement of a new Yoshi game currently called Yarn Yoshi.
The game is being developed by the creators of Kirby’s Epic Yarn. The production of the game is being overseen by the director of Yoshi’s Island and Yoshi’s Story. I feel this game is in good hands!
Like Kirby’s Epic Yarn the characters and world look to be made mostly from fabrics and yarn. The game does not yet have a release date.
Here are a couple more screen shots:
(images from Nintendo)
A brand new set of Pokemon games has been for released later in 2013, Pokemon X and Pokemon Y. The games will be on the 3DS – the first full Pokemon game for the 3DS. Pokemon Rumble is out, but it is a very different style. A worldwide release of the game is expected in October.
The three new starter Pokemon have already been revealed:
Grass Type
Fire Type
Water Type
I am particularly excited for Fennekin because it is a fennec fox and a cute new addition to the Pokemon universe.
Here is a 3d version:
:
(images from fanpop)
A real fennec fox just for fun:
(bioweb)
Hasbro, the company behind the Monopoly game, has decided it is time to change one of the iconic game pieces for the basic versions of Monopoly. These pieces have been around for years, and they are allowing fans to make the decision on which piece goes and what new one is added.
To vote, head on over to Facebook: Save Your Token
The pieces at stake for removal: the car, thimble, boot, scottie dog, battleship, hat, iron, and wheelbarrow. You can select each piece to see the “reason” for removal and why it should stay.
New pieces up for vote:
The new options are: robot, diamond ring, cat, helicopter, and guitar.
I voted for the dog piece, as it has always been my favorite:
I encourage you to vote to save your favorite piece as well! As of writing this article the dog and car are in the lead of votes while the iron and wheelbarrow are lowest. Just in case your favorite piece ends up being cut, I hear a “Golden Token” Monopoly set featuring all of the original pieces will be available from Target some time in February.
Vote on Facebook at Save Your Token.
The Hobbit is now out in theatres and it is an amazing movie! A little long if you are not a tolkien lover, because they split the story into three movies. But if you are like me and always wanted more out of the Lord of the Rings movies, you will love this one!
This post comes with a little spoiler alert if you have not seen any of the trailers for the movie, or the movie itself.
Here is a trailer if you would like to see:
Radagast the Brown, a wizard like Gandalf, has a small part in the movie! He is merely referenced in the Hobbit, and has return appearance in LOTR (not in the movie version). Radagast’s job was to take care of nature. I am not too fond of the make up job that he has in the movie (mainly the bird poop running down his face).
(image found here)
But in the trailer you get a glimpse of something not mentioned in the books, but is a wonderful and fitting addition to Radagast’s character: a sled pulled by giant rabbits!
Here are some screen shots:
(screen capture found here)
(screen capture found at theonering.com)
They are adorable giant rabbits, and are very fast in the film. In the movie Radagast refers to the rabbits and being outrun by wargs: “These are Rhosgobel Rabbits. I’d like to see them try!”
Rhosgobel is the name of the place where Radagast lives – so it is fitting to refer to the rabbits as being from there. His home is described as being fenced in, and lying on the western edge of Mirkwood. You can read a bit more about Rhosgobel at tolkiengateway.net.
I will update this post once better pictures of the rabbits come out.
There is a new video out of President Obama’s dog, Bo a Portuguese Water Dog, inspecting their “holiday” decorations:
The theme for the 2012 decorations is “Joy to All.”
Here is a photo of Bo by a decoration made to look like him:
(image from whitehouse.gov)
Another with santa hat and lights:
(image found on Yahoo News, originally from whitehouse.gov)
