For a company that disavows mascots, NJM insurance presents a lot of mascots of the fictitious competition, and they frequently are pretty good! These dastardly mascots also try their best to cover up advertising copy for NJM. As this commercial begins, we are shown a peacock who spreads his tail feathers at a bus stop to cover a posted ad for NJM. Then at an office, the purple arm of some thing appears to close the lid of a laptop that might be preparing to display NJM copy. A large green” Kraken” hangs from the roof of a bus to spread its tentacles over an NJM ad. Lastly, a bear using a riding mower runs over and thoroughly shreds a delivered newspaper bearing NJM ad copy, pieces of which then float in the air like confetti around a bewildered homeowner…
It’s no “secret,” you see, that NJMinsurance is so good that it stands on its own merits, and doesn’t need mascots…
Why do I blog? Good writing prompt, BTW, and I rarely respond to these things. – – I blog because it’s so muchcheaper than therapy! Thinking about it, however, I blog because it affords me a sense of community, of knowing that somewhere out there in internet-land there are a few people who are interested in the same things that I am, and perhaps share elements of my weirdness. This can make it a bit easier to take the daily masquerade that we all engage in, of preparing a face to meet the faces that we meet…
What I am is a strange mixture of frustrated English teacher, biologist, paranormal fancier, and red fox furry. I was afurry back in the pre-internet days before we even had a word for it, and those of us who were of that persuasion just kind of blundered around unnaturally attached to cartoons, and identifying with the animal characters depicted. I played a chicken in my 2nd grade class play and Don Quixote’s horse Rocinante in a college adaptation of Man of La Mancha, and couldn’t have been happier. Playing a horse was much better than being a chicken, however, as I got to wear a large paper mache head and pulled a draped sawhorse frame behind me to simulate a horse’s body. The rear sawhorse legs were hinged so I could sit down on stage…
I guessthat experience initially led me to identify as a horse in the fandom, and I functioned acceptably that way for a while, but I could only take the identification so far. So I tried being a wolf for a whole, but wasn’t really a pack animal nor could I handle the frequently expected aggressiveness. Many of us in the fandom need to experiment and essentially try on different identities before we find the right one, and that’s fine! It’s kinda like deciding on a career field, but far deeper psychologically…
Now the furry fandom is full of vixens, but I reasoned that there must be male foxes as well to continue the species. So I accepted my identity as a male fox, and the role has fit me like a glove ever since! Sometimes, it would appear, we must wander in the desert for some time before we can finally find where we are going…
So blogging can reinforce your sense of personal identity, tie you in with a community of like-minded spirits, and it can even be a kick, to boot (pun intended). It’s also humbling to draw readers from different locations around the world. So thank you, WordPress, for giving each of us our own crazy personal niches! It may not be a second Eden, but it still beats Berwyn, right?
Back to business in my next post. But right now, it’s time for a group hug or skritch in appreciation for my readers who put up with me!
There’s a strange live-action/animated anthology TV series hosted by “Bill” (Bill Leff ) , MeTV’s “cartoon curator,” along with his puppet friend, Toony the Tuna. One does not often see a fish co-hosting a TV show, much less a talking fish apparently comfortable out of water, but Toony manages. Toony even sports wardrobe changes!
Each show contains four to six animated shorts taken from classic cartoon shows, including Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies, Tom and Jerry, Betty Boop, Popeye, Woody Woodpecker, and a number pf others. The shows featured mostly aired from the 1950’s through the 1990’s. In between cartoons, Bill and Toony banter about what the cartoons illustrate, as well as issues around the studio. The show can be mildly educational at times…
While the MeTV show airs early weekdays in many areas for just an hour, a more comprehensive 24-hour a day version called MeTV Toons began in late June, and is available through subscription, or if you’re fortunate enough may be available through your cable package in your local area. Several complete episodes are available for free through YouTube. At any rate, it’s nice to see a series dedicated to the airing of classic ‘toons, and we’ll just hope that Toony doesn’t wind up in a casserole or someone’s sandwich…
Somewhere between theMayhem guy’s minimalist animal impersonations and a full-fledged, identity-concealing fursuit is Earl the Cat, doing commercial duties for Smalls Cat food. Earl is anthropomorphic, sleeping in a bed, going into the bathroom and brushing his tongue, and yes…we briefly glimpse a litter box in that bathroom, but thankfully do not see Earl using it!
We see Earl engaging in cat-behaviors such as doing a variety of full-body stretches to limber up the old back…but Earl also does humanoid activities such as going on his computer and getting into social networking sites. He becomes visibly excited when viewing web images of chickens…
Yes,Earl has the best of both worlds! Half-man and half-cat, Earl’s thoughts eventually turn as do all of ours to food. Earl is one of the sophisticats, too…no alley cat he! Picking out a container of food from a pantry-full, he carries it to a nice table, where there is candle-lighting, and perhaps a bottle of vino.- –How refined! – -How sweet it is! But in the manner of domestic animals everywhere, Earl puts his face down to eat directly from his plate.- – No utensils necessary!
Wouldn’t you love to have a human-sized anthropomorphic cat to lounge around your place? Sign me up!- – Cuddles and snuggles, anyone?- –Meow!
I find the “Feed The Pig” PSA commercial creepy, surreal, and oddly disquieting in that it features a human-sized pig, the walking and riding embodiment of a piggy bank, going about with a gaping slot in his head! The pig’s eyes are disturbingly human, while his face is frozen, and plastic-looking.
There is something terribly wrong here! With the gash in his head,the commercial makes me wonder who did this to the pig?! Is there some kind of Dr. Mengele or Dr. Moreau who goes about performing brain surgery on porcine members of the furry fandom, or what? What is the purpose of this mutilation? This pig walks, but is he brain-damaged? For some insane reason, this pig appears happy, and is just going about his business…does the pig even know what’s been done to him, or is he too neurologically-damaged?!
In the commercial, a young man shopping receives a text message that his bank balance is low, spots the pig walking along, and then hastily pursues him through a variety of scenes, the pig at one point riding a motor scooter, riding on an escalator, and in another appearing on a subway. The chase continues through the food prep area of a fine dining facility, and through the restaurant itself. The young man is in hot and frantic pursuit, dodging traffic, and even vaulting over a yoga class in a park to the sound effect of the Bionic Man, Steve Austin, jumping…
Eventually, the guy catches up with the pig outside a residence, tackles him, and stuffs a currency bill into the slot on his head! They are surprisingly polite to one another. “Same time next week?,” asks the dude of the the pig. “Well of course!,” the pig obligingly replies…
Created by the American Institute of CPAs and the Advertising Council in in the U.S., the Feed The Pig series of commercials is designed to get young people saving. I get it…but it’s also nightmare fuel! (*shudders*)
What’s buzzin’, Cousin? The MayhemBee, that’s what!With seemingly no limitations to the number of species that Dean Winters can impersonate, he’s a mighty mite as a bee, attired as always in a conservative suit, and sans makeup. Other animals that Winters has channeled have included a deer, cat, raccoon, St. Bernard pup, bear, and bird!
In this Allstate commercial spot, Winters dons wings, and in his diminutive state buzzes the lady driver of a car in motion, distracting her and shouting “Boo!” into her ear. She looses control, and the car careens wildly before wrecking. Even Winters in his bee-form isn’t immune to the laws of physics, however, winding up mashed against the interior of the windshield. “What a buzz-kill!,” he proclaims…
Some of us, including yours truly, can remember those thrilling days of crank-powered car windows, when stinging insects could enter open rear windows, leaving you no way of driving them out short of pulling over off the road. – – Ahh, the memories of near calamity that this commercial evokes! And three cheers for the very talented Dean Winters!
It’s kinda like the “Island of Misfit Toys” from the 1960’s Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Xmas classic…NJM’s “Basement Storage” commercial, that is!
From their “No Jingles or Mascots” campaign, we see a rather remarkable animatronic elephant wheeled in, complete with a well-articulated trunk. Activating once his human depositor leaves, the elephant wonders if he’s in mascot heaven. He’s not in mascot heaven or hell, but purgatory might be more like it…the elephant has landed in a basement storage area for mascots unwanted and unused by NJM, mascot-companions for the elephant that include a gorilla and lion… 🙀
Unfortunately, the rejected would-be mascot elephant appears to short out, then repeating his initial query about whether he’s in mascot heaven. ” Oh boy!,” comments the gorilla…
Yes, there’s something in the barn, and it’s not a moo-cow but rather a Norwegian barn elf in this black horror comedy that plays like the movie Gremlins run through National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation…
It seems that a rather annoying American millennial-type family has inherited a Norwegian farm estate where their distant relative died trying to expel or exterminate the barn elf, succeeding only in dying a fiery death. Oblivious to Norwegian traditions and mythology, the Griswold-type family tries to impose gaudy American holiday traditions on the estate in the process of converting it to a bed-and-breakfast type inn…
This serves to make the barn elf angry, as they are creatures that despise change, bright lights, noise, and modernism in general. Only the family’s pre-teen son Lucas understands this, solely believing in the entity, and forging an alliance with the being by giving it cookies. If you are nice to such an elf, they will do service to you such as remove snow and split and stack firewood. Offend an elf, however, and open warfare results, with the mythical beings being able to call in reinforcements of their fellows…
You wouldn’t like such elves when they are truly angry. They are tribal, not adverse to killing, and will use primitive and environmental weaponry. When they stumble into your liquor cabinet, they’ll indulge themselves, and throw raucous parties…
The Americans are guided in their struggles by an expert in Norwegian folklore, who chides them with such admonitions as “This isn’t America. We don’t go about shooting each other in the faces!” A sensible people, Norwegians prefer negotiation.
Cookies are also powerful negotiation chips, if used in a timely fashion. Proper respect for folkloric beings is always in order, too. So be nice to your barn elf, should you have one… 🦊
Allstate’s Dean Winters as the redoubtable “Mayhem” is doing animal impersonations again, this time as a wild bird stuck in the attic of basketball legend Larry Bird. – -What, you’ve never seen a bird in a suit before?! That absurdity is part of the humor. Well, once again Winters pulls his animal act off, bonking his head against an attic window to show his entrapment, knocking stuff about, and announcing that he’s “going cuckoo…”
All of the ruckus draws the now senior Bird out of his comfy chair into his attic, where he encounters the bird-Winters, and arms himself with a lacrosse stick! “What ‘ya got, Larry? May the best bird win,” declares Winters. It’s no contest, however, as Winters-as-bird handily dodges basketball Bird’s swings. Jumping to reach Winters, Larry Bird crashes through the attic floor, his legs dangling comically through his living room ceiling…
“You may be a legend on the court, but you’re an amateur up here,” mocks wild bird Winters from the rafters. “Now YOU’RE the bird stuck in the attic!”
Once more, nature prevails…as does Dean Winters, whether as a cat, raccoon, deer, St. Bernard puppy, or bird.- – Can he do a fox next?! 🦊
There is now a 2023 movie based on the popular video game, Five Nights At Freddy’s. For those who have been living in a cave, Freddy’s envisions a closed and decaying 1980’s kiddie pizza emporium much like Chuck E. Cheese’s where the animal-resembling members of the house robotic entertainment band continue unnaturally to lumber around, stalking and killing intruders on the premises…
Now I’ve seen one of these animal robot bands performing in Florida, and it was creepy, because budget-level animatronics do not approach Disney World standards, and the robotic animal performers don’t move fluidly. Because of this, cartoon-like animal robots make suitable fodder for horror movies, kind of like Jason or Freddy with creaky hydraulics…
I’m usually not a fan of video games turned into movies, but this one is not without its moments, probably because I am a damn furry, and likely wouldn’tmind spending my afterlife as Foxy, the robot pirate-fox. Just be kind to him, because he’s been knocking around since the 1980’s unattended and without proper maintenance. Foxy is the worse for the wear, much like I myself…
The robots, ‘ya see, are inhabited by the spirits of deceased children who mysteriously vanished. While they are murderous, their mayhem is not graphically rendered on screen, and one reviewer termed this an introduction to horror movies for the video game generation, “baby’s first horror movie.” There are some novel concepts here, even if the film itself is not especially scary. This probably would have been better suited for presentation on the SyFy channel instead of the big screen, but it did play well in theaters. Similar themes were developed in The Banana Splits Movie, which didn’t have a video game pedigree. But catch this one on Amazon Prime if you have it. It’s fun, but won’t haunt your dreams. It just can’t be taken seriously, but there’s nothing wrong with that, and robotic furries are a kick…
(Foxy’s looked better, but haven’t we all?!And I could definitely get into the Robo-pirate fox scene, yarr!Lower yer flag and stand by to be boarded by the scourge of the Seven Seas, Matey!) 🦊
See y’all at Freddy Fazbear’s…or maybe the funny papers!
*Laughs hysterically and is taken away by nice young men in clean white coats* 🤪
FOXSYLVANIA 
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