Cat playing “I Spy”

Talking cat = comedy gold

(Thanks to Eric for the submission!)

BIRD film

If you’ve spent more than five minutes with me, you know I love birds. Like crazy-bird-lady-love birds. Dozens of feeders and birdhouses, can identify all 60 species I’ve seen on our land, and know many of them by their calls. THAT kind of bird love. So here’s a look at some really beautiful birds (OK, some of them just beautiful to me, probably), courtesy of photographer/director Andrew Zuckerman. Cool music, too.

BIRD film from Andrew Zuckerman Studio on Vimeo.

(Thanks to Nick for the submission!)

Awkward family holiday card photos

Some of my favorites from the Awkward Family Photos website (click a thumbnail to see the full photo in all its glory, then use your “Back” button to return to this page):

Happy elk calf plays in puddle

So apparently human kids aren’t the only ones who like mud.  Wheeeeeee!

Hippo and tortoise

This true story has been going around the Internet for years, but it still makes me smile. More proof that differences don’t have to matter.

NAIROBI (AFP) – A baby hippopotamus that survived the tsunami waves on the Kenyan coast has formed a strong bond with a giant male century-old tortoise in an animal facility in the port city of Mombassa, officials said. The hippopotamus, nicknamed Owen and weighing about 300 kilograms (650 pounds), was swept down Sabaki River into the Indian Ocean, then forced back to shore when tsunami waves struck the Kenyan coast on December 26, before wildlife rangers rescued him. “It is incredible.. A-less-than-a-year-old hippo has adopted a male tortoise, about a century old, and the tortoise seems to be very happy with being a ‘mother’,” ecologist Paula Kahumbu, who is in charge of Lafarge Park, told AFP. “After it was swept away and lost its mother, the hippo was traumatized. It had to look for something to be a surrogate mother. Fortunately , it landed on the tortoise and established a strong bond. They swim, eat and sleep together,” the ecologist added. “The hippo follows the tortoise exactly the way it followed its mother. If somebody approaches the tortoise, the hippo becomes aggressive, as if protecting its biological mother,” Kahumbu added. “The hippo is a young baby, he was left at a very tender age and by nature, hippos are social animals that like to stay with their mothers for four years,” he explained.

(Thanks to Betty for the submission!)

Five-pound gummy bear

Do you like gummy bears?  Do you really, really, REALLY like gummy bears?  How about the equivalent of 1,400 gummy bears?

Enter the 9.5 inch, 5-pound World’s Largest Gummy Bear, in your choice of blue raspberry, green apple (my favorite!), or red cherry.  C’mon, it’s only 12,600 calories, and according to the website,

Its monstrous size is only matched by its enormous taste. The World’s Largest Gummy Bear tastes just as delicious as its pint-sized counterpart.

Seriously.  It’s the greatest flippin’ gift ever.

Can’t handle that much gummy bear?  Try the Giant Gummy Bear on a Stick (only 1/2 pound).

(Thanks to Steve for the submission!)

Kiss someone’s forehead today!

I hereby declare today (and for that matter, every day) International Kiss Someone’s Forehead Day. As you can see, it’ll make you BOTH feel better!

(Thanks to Nick for the submission!)

Cat bloopers

I’ve done my fair share of on-camera work, and sometimes it doesn’t always come out the way you’d planned when the director says, “Action”.  Good thing I have a fondness for blooper reels (another reason we stay after the credits of movies…just in case).

I also love animals, and although I don’t have a cat–we do have a dog and a bunny–I appreciate how silly they can be.  And apparently they’re pretty gutsy hunters and great with children.  Who knew?

So now for your viewing pleasure, a cat blooper reel.  Honestly, I didn’t know what to expect from this…but once you see a cat pants a guy in the kitchen (:29), there’s no going back.  Enjoy!

Elephant car wash

A wildlife park in Oregon has come up with a unique way of raising money and awareness:

On 600 acres of savannah-like land an hour south of Eugene, Wildlife Safari is doing new and innovative things in an attempt at conservation through education. The newest addition to the wide range of activities offered at the drive-through park is an elephant car wash, where elephants do just that: wash visitors’ cars. “Guaranteed not to get your car clean!” laughed Dinah Wilson, one of Wildlife Safari’s full-time elephant trainers.

For more, check out the complete story at the Oregon Daily Emerald website.

Kurushio Sea aquarium in HD

Remember those VHS videos of fish you’d pop into your VCR when you wanted to relax? Here’s the 2009 version, with a beautiful soundtrack–”Please Don’t Go” by Barcelona.  Filmed in HD  at the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium, world’s second largest aquarium and site of the first successful manta ray birth in captivity (they call them “cubs”).  Sooooo relaxing…