One of the intern pigs here at FT really looks like a Soot Sprite, or Susuwatari, from My Neighbor Totoro and Spirited Away.
Here are the animated sprites with a little explanation about what they are:
(Spirited Away)
(source)
Here is Chewbacca, with flash:
Here is a comparison in more natural light:
And even more so:
– Fizz
The big game has come and gone, did your team win? If you are like The Human you care more about the commercials than the actual game. It kind of ruins that experience when the big players release their commercials early online. In any event, The Human did not watch any spoilers so all the commercials were new. Still, there were not many cute commercials this year.
Here are The Human’s picks for cutest commercials:
“Fable” – Mercedes-Benz
Cute woodland creatures in a retelling of the tortoise and the hare? Cute, slightly inappropriate, but fun none the less.
“First Draft Ever” – Avocados from Mexico
It has animals in it, that is about all I can really say for it.
“When Pigs Fly” – Doritos
Inventive and cute, I am glad this pig could help his boy get some Doritos.
The winner of cutest commercial:
“Lost Dog” – Budweiser
Glad that Budweiser did not disappoint again this year! A freindship between a puppy and Clydesdales? The horses even save the puppy, this one was well put together!
Honorable mention:
I don’t know if this is actually made for game day, but The Human first saw it then:
K9 – Xfinity
Again, it has a dog in it and it is funny so it had to be included.
And today during the Puppy Bowl Animal Planet aired the Subaru “Dog Tested. Dog Approved.” commercials again so here is a compilation of those:
Hope you enjoyed your big game experience!
-Fizz
Don’t forget to watch Puppy Bowl on Animal Planet! The game has only just begun.
As usual, you can vote for most valuable puppy (MVP) online at Animalplanet.com, just click the link.
You can share a picture of your puppy on instagram with #puppybowlsubaru for a chance to have your puppy featured on tv during the game.
Happy game day everyone!
– Fizz
This year Puppy Bowl XI did something incredibly special and awesome! Animal Planet teamed up with UBER to bring puppies to your office! That is right, you could order a car full of puppies to play with for 15 minutes!
UBER is a company which allows you to use a cell phone app to order a taxi, private car, or rideshare. They are prominent in the news because the company employs any qualified driver and car for use as a taxi in the face of existing taxi medallion systems and companies, and has been rapidly expanding to new areas.
Unfortunately, The Human only heard about this after the time you could try to order this service which was Wednesday February 28 from 11am to 3pm. It was also very limited due to the demand for such a service and the difficulties of moving puppies around to many play dates. Maybe, just maybe if this works out this year they will offer the same type of service in the future. It was also extremely geographically limited, available in only 10 major cities so many were out of luck to begin with.
Where, How, Why, and How Much?
Where: Atlanta, Baltimore, Cleveland, Dallas, DC, Denver, Indianapolis, LA, Phoenix, and Seattle.
How: You had to use the UBER app and request the PUPPIES option, which could only be viewed by those using the app in the above cities.
(UBER)
This is what was displayed if all the puppies were busy:
It was stated that puppies only be delivered to office buildings, and you had to make sure ahead of time that your office manager/building manger/boss was okay with this. You needed a room available for the puppies to go in and/or an enclosure to keep them safe and contained.
How does UBER even have puppies to drive around? They partnered with local shelters in each city. Many of the puppies that were involved were adoptable.
Why: This event draws attention to puppies in need of a home. It also brings exposure to the shelters who participated. In most cities the puppies in the car were adoptable and the representative who traveled with the car of puppies could help. Plus, who wouldn’t want to play with a bunch of puppies while at their office?!
Here are the participating shelters:
Phoenix – Arizona Humane Society
Atlanta – Atlanta Humane Society
Baltimore – BARCS Baltimore
Cleveland – Cleveland Animal Protective League
Dallas – Dallas Animal Services
Denver – Dumb Friends League
Indianapolis – Humane Society of Indianapolis
LA – Wags and Walks
Seattle – PAWS
DC – Washington Animal Rescue League
How Much: $30 for 15 minutes of puppy play time. All the money went to the shelter that participated in the event.
Puppies from the UBER promotion in Dallas:
(Twitter/City of Dallas)
You can read the rules here and find out more.
The puppies also went to schools and children’s hospitals to brighten their day!
The Human is very sad to have missed this, but the opportunity was amazing!
– Fizz
Have you ever seen a mix between a pit bull and a dachshund?
This is Rami:
(Moultrie Colquitt County Humane Society)
You can clearly see the influence of both of his parents, with the distinctly pit bull face and long short dachshund body. Such a large head for such a small frame! It is hard to decide whether he is cute or ugly, or so ugly he is cute. Yet, Rami is up for adoption in Georgia.
(Moultrie Colquitt County Humane Society)
Rami is now famous online, as a dog of his unusual appearance is apt to be. Many did not even think he was real! After the Moultrie Colquitt County Humane Society posted him for adoption on Facebook they received so much interest they are setting up a special adoption and interview process to place him in the best home possible.
You can watch a news story about Rami due to all the attention over this odd appearance:
Never forget that you can find a gem at your local animal shelter too! So many dogs need forever homes, just make sure that you are ready for the task by spending a little time assessing any dog’s needs and whether you can fulfill them.
-Fizz
It is once again time for Puppy Bowl! YES!!!! This Sunday, Sunday, SUNDAY!!!!!
Puppy Bowl is a show on Animal Planet which always airs on the Sunday of the Super Bowl. It is to show off cute puppies playing a fake game of football for your enjoyment. You can watch puppies both before, during, and after the big game. Puppy Bowl XI will air on February 1 2015 at 3 pm. It will start and end before the big game begins. However, PBXI will also replay a few more times so you can watch it instead of football or you can catch it after the game if you do not have time before.
As usual, the show features puppies from animal shelters playing with football (and other) dog toys on a miniature field inside a mini fake stadium. Puppies are switched out throughout the game and a touchdown is made any time a puppy makes it over the goal line with a toy. A ref calls penalties and makes sure that the puppies play nice. The halftime show features kittens playing. One puppy usually wins an MVP (most valuable puppy) award for playing the best. But I am not sure if that is true this year with the addition of an online fantasy draft. The point of the whole thing is to show off cute puppies to encourage people to go to their local shelters and adopt dogs in need of homes. All of the puppies featured have been adopted into new homes.
This year they are also featuring a fantasy draft, which might take the place of the mvp award.
You go online here to sign into the site and pick three puppies for your dream team from the starting line up. The puppies are split into two teams: Team Ruff and Team Fluff. You can pick three puppies in any variation and across both teams.
You also get to pick which team you think will win. Team Ruff is in the lead!
Here are a couple of the puppies from the starting line up:
Aria the Labrador Retriever mix, on Team Ruff:
Keith Barraclough/DCL
Blue the Schnauzer Poodle mix, on Team Fluff:
Keith Barraclough
Boomer the German Shepherd mix, on Team Ruff:
Chicklet the Australian Shepherd Mix, on Team Fluff:
Keith Barraclough
Falcor the Clumber Spanial, on Team Ruff:
Keith Barraclough/DCL
Fritz the Mini Schnauzer, on Team Fluff:
Keith Barraclough/DCL
Lee the Boxer mix,on Team Ruff:
Keith Barraclough/DCL
Panda the Pomeranian, on Team Fluff:
Keith Barraclough/DCL
You can see the entire starting line up here. There is a great mix of beautiful and adorable puppies this year, you won’t want to miss out!
Make sure you tune in and watch all the adorable puppies this Sunday at 3 pm on Animal Planet!
– Fizz
GoDaddy, a domain name registry site which you can also use to build your website, is well known for controversial and disgusting ads during the Super Bowl and in their general marketing campaigns.
As many other companies are doing in recent years they released the commercial ahead of game day. At first glance the ad seemed innocent enough entitled “Journey Home” and featuring a puppy.
Here is the puppy, named Buddy, featured in the ad:
Journey Home – GoDaddy
The end of the commercial however made many upset. The commercial, which has been removed from Youtube and will not be aired during the Super Bowl, can be viewed here. We refuse to host it here because we do not agree with the commercial’s message which while not intentional was not well thought out either.
The overview of “Journey Home” is as follows:
Buddy a cute golden retriever puppy is traveling in the open back of truck with two other puppies which are irresponsibly in an open brown box. Buddy, not in any container, is bounced out of the moving truck landing hard and amazingly without injury in the grass.
Journey Home – GoDaddy
The puppy then goes on what appears to be a long trek over at least one day and night through rain and hardship before reaching a white house with a red barn which you believe is the puppy’s home.
Journey Home – GoDaddy
However, when the assumed owner greets buddy she exclaims in a sickeningly sweet tone: “Buddy! I’m so glad you made it home! Because I just sold you on this website I made with GoDaddy.” It seems to be okay that such a young puppy went missing, and she still sold him even wihtout knowing his whereabouts or if he would be alive to send to someone else.
Journey Home – GoDaddy
The puppy is then shown in a box, in a truck, being shipped to his new owner again irresponsibly in an open brown box with the last line from his previous owner/breeder being “Ship him out.”
Journey Home – GoDaddy
The tone of the ad makes it appear that GoDaddy endorses or encourages the online sales of animals for profit without regard for their welfare. The use of a cute puppy was simply intended as a play on the fact that other incredibly popular Super Bowl commercials from companies like Budweiser have used puppies in recent years, and which Budweiser has been teasing as the subject of their ad again this year. The joking tone/twist at the end was to make light of that for GoDaddy’s own benefit.
The backlash to the tone and ending of the ad was immediate and often harsh. A change.org petition was started to get the ad taken down. Many took to social media sites like Twitter to make their opinions heard:
At first the company defended the ad before realizing how much, and how many, people found their message disturbing.
Why yes, these businesses might want an online presence but they should not be treating their business, animals, sales, or shipping in any manner like which was conveyed in this ad spot regardless of if they are a breeder or shelter. Responsible breeders place puppies in good homes which are usually judged for condition first with owners who demonstrate they are ready to own such an animal. They are not simply shipped out to a mysterious new owner immediately, especially in such a short time frame as the commercial suggests. They will also show perspective owners something more than a mere website, like the condition of their facilities and the puppy’s parents. Shelters also benefit from background checking prospective owners, checking the fit of a dog with potential adopters, checking dogs for potential behavioral problems and making that information available before adoption, and overall showing an interest in making a good placement in a responsible home over just making money.
The SPCA was very vocal about the ad:
And finally the SPCA, like many others who tweeted GoDaddy, got a reply that made some sense:
GoDaddy removed the ad from Youtube and went as far as pulling it from their lineup of commercials to air during the Super Bowl as the company explains on their blog:
This morning we previewed GoDaddy’s Super Bowl spot on a popular talk show, and shortly after a controversy started to swirl about Buddy, our puppy, being sold online. The responses were emotional and direct. Many people urged us not to run the ad.
We’ve made a tremendous amount of progress over the past two years, advancing the GoDaddy brand as a company that cares a great deal about small business and is in their corner to help them succeed. People increasingly know who we are, what we do and who we do it for. At the end of the day, our purpose at GoDaddy is to help small businesses around the world build a successful online presence. We hoped our ad would increase awareness of that cause. However, we underestimated the emotional response. And we heard that loud and clear.
The net result? We are pulling the ad from the Super Bowl. You’ll still see us in the Big Game this year, and we hope it makes you laugh.
Finally, rest assured, Buddy came to us from a reputable and loving breeder in California. He’s now part of the GoDaddy family as our Chief Companion Officer and he lives permanently with one of our longtime employees.
I wish more companies would listen to the response of the public in regard to what impact they are making in the world! I also appreciate that the puppy in the ad was sourced from a responsible breeder and found a loving home in a manner much better than what the dog had to go through it the ad that made him famous.
GoDaddy has made a lot of commotion in the past and had to back pedal a lot – for how they use women in their ads online and in commercials – and now for how they portray animal welfare. I hope this will make them think before they decide what to do in their next commercial. It would be great for them to do something endearing, encouraging, or actually funny and not disgusting or distracting. They will need to make more improvements before The Human ever gives them any business because they keep making the same marketing mistakes.
What do you think, was it a good idea to pull the ad? Is the ad really as bad as it seems, or is it just funny?
– Fizz
Avalon Cakes posted a blog about this amazing tiger cake a while ago and I wanted to share it with you.
Such amazing details! It manages to be cute, furry, and fierce all at the same time. The cake is edible, and it contained around 30 servings.
Avalon Cakes posted pictures of the cake through the process of making it.
Here it is after the details have been sculpted into and out of the fondant, which provide the 3D fur effect and lifelike eyes:
Then the stripes were added with a dry dusting technique:
After that the orange fur color was added along with all the rest of the details in the face and eyes:
Truly a work of art, this cake is simply fantastic! If you ever need a realistic, beautiful, or whimsical cake in the areas around Denver Colorado, contact Avalon Cakes!
– Fizz
*All photos from Avalon Cakes*
The BBC One series “Pets – Wild at Heart” seeks to reveal the normal behaviors of our pets in ways we may have never seen or considered before. The show presents the information in a wonderful way with creative and amazing camera techniques like moving x-rays, slow motion, animal mounted cameras, and thermal imaging. It is narrated by David Tennant, the 10th Doctor from “Doctor Who” for those interested in that!
One segment in the first episode investigates how hamsters are able to store so much food in their cheeks. The show utilizes a moving x-ray of a hamster stuffing its cheeks to show you:
The reality of the hamster’s cheek pouches is fascinating!
Just look at how cute the hamster makes stuffing its face:
They are able to fit so much in their pouches because they run all the way down to their hips! These x-ray views show some of the food pieces sitting close to the hamster’s side, getting closer to his hips:
Tiny hamster hips and ribs! They are even cute in x-ray!
To keep the food dry the hamster does not secrete any saliva while it has food in its pouches.When nothing else will fit a hamster can carry one last thing with them. Here is the hamster from the show attempting to fit a piece of food too large into the tube. Just look how sleek he still looks from the sides, very had to tell he has food stored all the way down his sides.
He even still fits into that tube to bring the food to his horde.
I had no idea hamster cheeks were so large!
Watch “Pets – Wild at Heart” to see even more amazing pet facts on BBC One.
– Fizz
Happy MLK Day!
On a day such as today it is good to remember the past, study it, and learn from it. History can teach us many things if we choose to listen.
– Fizz
