Archive for August 2010

…And A Little Pig Shall Lead Them!

August 15, 2010

– – Yes, that’s right…another post on the same topic, something without precedent in the annals of Foxsylvania!   Some say that he’s cuter than the Geico gecko, but you can’t compare apples and oranges, and appearance is subjective, anyways!  At any rate, Maxwell the Pig has taken on a life of his own, and appears at home both everywhere and nowhere, a surreal porker for the 21st century.   Both lovable and annoying, he’s just being himself!  With a literary tradition going back to the 1728 nursery rhyme (“The Nurse’s Song”), this little piggy is as old as the 18th century but as fresh as tomorrow!

Maxwell knows that life is too important a matter to be taken seriously.  He has a childlike quality and exuberance that would brighten the psyches of the worst “namby pamby jackwagons.” The endless squealing is meaningless,  yet somehow manages to say it allthat embracing life with a pinwheel in each hand while leaning out of the window and shrieking with delight is perhaps the best of all ways to handle it!

The name “Maxwell” is of English/Scottish/Welsh origins, and means “major well.”  This well is one we all could benefit from drinking from…




Geico’s Little “Piggy!”

August 13, 2010

– – It’s a twisted world after all, and Geico has the perfect commercial to commemorate this fact; called “Piggy,” it puts a twist on the old nursery rhyme about the little piggy who cried “Wee!  Wee!  Wee!  all the way home.”

Leaning out of a back window of an SUV,  this little piggy does just that, much to the chagrin of an annoyed and weary mother and her son.  He even holds two pinwheels out of the window as he does it!  Not to worry, though…the piggy’s wearing his seatbelt! When this ultimate annoying rider makes it home, he declares “Oh, cool!,” and thanks his ride. Viewable on YouTube and many other sites, and well worth a look…

By the way, the pig’s name is “Maxwell,” and the long-suffering driver is “Mrs. A”…

Not Lazy, Just Evolved…

August 12, 2010

– – Orangutans aren’t exactly balls of fire but rather simian slackers; they can sleep for twelve hours a day, and then nap for several hours more!  In fact, orangutans use less energy, pound-for-pound, than any animal except for the tree sloth.   This is not necessarily a bad thing…

It turns out that orangutans are not lazy, but simply energy-efficient.  In the wild, orangutans live mainly off fruit, which can be hard to come by in their forest habitat for several months of the year.  Those who can survive on the least food for the longest therefore have the best chance of surviving and reproducing.  Although a large male orangutan can weigh in at over 250 pounds, a new study in the Journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences shows that such an animal consumes less than 2,000 calories a day, which is 20% less than a typical human male.

This can be considered an evolutionary adaptation to deal with their habitat, with sleep being a low-energy state…

Chicken Hat Man…

August 11, 2010

– – Seen at the Great British Beer Festival was chicken hat man, who does not appear to be enjoying himself.  We can only speculate why this gentleman appears grumpy; is it because he thought he was going to a costume party?- -Did someone diss his hat?- -Is it part of the English tradition of keeping a stiff upper lip?- -Is he an undercover agent for PETA offering a visual commentary on the sad fate of poultry?- -Is he disaffected because all of the fox costumes were rented?

Who are we to judge?- – And some things, no doubt, we are better off not knowing…

Celebrating 150,000 Hits!

August 9, 2010

– – Most excellent readers!–Your loyalty has allowed this blog to reach the 150,000 hits mark!–Thank ‘ya, thank ‘ya very much!  In the days ahead, we will try to expand our frontiers a bit, and otherwise improve the blog.   Lord knows, anything would be an improvement!- – So give yourselves a standing ovation, and drinks will be complementary for the next fifteen minutes at the poolside bar!

Don’t Tase the Bruins, Bro!

August 7, 2010

– – Humans who seek to neutralize bears with a stun gun may wish to consider that it doesn’t work terribly well on them, and may leave them seriously annoyed, possibly resulted in you being mauled and eaten!

This is what happened in Anchorage, Alaska on July 22nd after a man caught a bear by his fish fryer and proceeded to shoot it with a stun gun; the bear “went inverted, with feet in the air, growling and crying at the same time, flailing with his feet.  He actually rolled off the porch.”

Now while the gentleman in question escaped being mauled and eaten, Fish and Game officials in Alaska warn that after the initial shock, the bear might go into a rage and ruin your whole day.  Even Sarah Palin understands this, which is why bear hunters carry a .45 pistol on their belt when they go hunting to back up their shotgun.  Using a stun gun on a bear is like using a peashooter on a bomber.

So don’t tase bears, which outweigh you by 800 pounds and are pointy on five of their six ends.  Should you, however, run across a picnic-basket stealing bear named Yogi, use whatever weapon you may have at hand…

The Sharks of Jersey…

August 5, 2010

– – This is “Shark Week” on The Discovery Channel, and it appears that sharks are staging their own commemorations off the New Jersey coast…

…during the month of July alone, three shark sightings have occurred off the Jersey coast, one at Ocean Beach and two at South Seaside Park Beach.  This past Saturday at Seaside Heights, N.J. a young blue shark swam toward the shoreline before turning around and heading back for deeper water…atypical behavior for the species.

There have been no injuries so far, but shark sightings have led to beach closings in New Jersey and along the Atlantic coast this summer (theme from Jaws plays)…

Awkward Family Pet Photos…

August 3, 2010

– – I, for one, am grateful to these felines for covering up what might have otherwise been an unsightly display of less than buff human epidermis.  You may surmise that these cats are not overly pleased with having assumed this duty, and I feel their pain.  I would not be overly happy in their situation,  either…

We will not get into a discussion of why some humans choose to have their pictures taken in the buff with their pets, leaving such considerations to philosophers and psychologists.  You may wish, however, to see more of the same at Awkwardfamilypetphotos.com, as well as images of monkeys in dresses and families with snakes wrapped around their necks…

Fact or Faked?

August 1, 2010

– – For  those of you hungry for a MonsterQuest fix, Syfy’s new show Fact or Faked:  Paranormal Files may offer you an alternative.  The show has been described as what Fox Mulder might have done after leaving the X-Files; in fact, the show features former FBI agent Ben Hansen.  Adding to the diversified investigative team is a scientist, a journalist, an effects specialist, a photography expert, and a stunt expert who explore video submissions and famous paranormal footage to determine which can be validated or debunked through experimentation.

Topics investigated are a mixed bag that include UFO’s, ghosts, cryptids, and unexplained phenomenon.  A lot of grainy videos are screened by the team in a “situation room” to weed out the obvious fakes and determine which cases are worthy of further investigation.  While it’s too early to tell if this series will be a hit, if you liked Ghost Hunters, Paranormal State, and Destination Truth, you’ll probably like this one.   Fact or Faked is a banquet, so take what you like, and leave the rest of it lying on the buffet table…we think it merits a look!