Archive for the ‘furry’ category

One of Us?

April 4, 2011

– – Imagine a surreal TV series about a guy, the girl next door, and her mixed breed dog, Wilfred. The twist is that the dog is played by a comic in a rather mediocre fursuit, complete with a drawn-on black nose!  That’s right, there may be a furry cult classic in the making here!

Wilfred will be aired on FX, and is based on a successful award-winning Australian series.  Not all foreign shows translate well to American television, although there have been notable exceptions such as Being Human. The premise of this show is exciting as we who are furry generally have to content ourselves on television with anthropomorphic animal ‘toon characters such as Brian in Family Guy, or occasionally catch glimpses of fursuited actors such as Bill Murray’s dog character Frisbee all too briefly portrayed in the movie, Scrooged. Such tantalizing tastes only leave us hungry for more, and here in Wilfred we have the promise of a major, on-going furry character!

Family Guy alum David Zuckerman is adapting the quirky comedy for FX, and will write and exec produce.  Jason Gann, who co-created and starred in the Australian series, plays the title character.- -Coming your way in  June!

The Bridgestone Beaver

April 2, 2011

– – What goes around, comes around…or so we are shown in the karmic Bridgestone beaver saga, generally regarded as probably the best of this year’s Superbowl commercials.  We are shown an industrious beaver hard at work in a wooded area, dutifully carrying a branch across a road with a bridge spanning a river visible in the background.–Oh no!–A car is then shown zipping down the road towards the beaver, who throws his paws up in anticipation of becoming roadkill.  The guy driving, however, calls upon the excellent handling characteristics of his Bridgestone tires, and is able at the last second to swerve around the threatened beaver, avoiding a messy tragedy.

For the beaver, life is one dam thing after another…and we cut to six months in the future, when the same motorist is shown traveling down the same road during a storm.  This time, a tree across the road halts the driver’s progress.  It’s a good thing, too, because the bridge the motorist must cross has been swept away by a raging torrent of water!  The beaver and the motorist spot one another, and exchange salutes…it’s a great moment!

A parable for our time…now that’s car-ma!

At One With Beer and Nature?

March 30, 2011

– – The Dos Equis Most Interesting Man in the World is notable here because of his apparent natural abilities with animals, who also seem to appreciate his legendary charisma.   We pause to salute this man because he goes out of his way to protect animals such as husky dogs, bears, and as illustrated,  foxes. As evidence of his ability to get along with and even control nature we cite the fact that whenever he swims, dolphins follow him.   He has a live owl that is shown in one commercial landing on his arm.  A recent commercial shows this beer-drinking wonder shooing a mountain lion out of his kitchen!

The actor who plays “The Most Interesting Man” is in real life Jonathan Goldsmith, who is committed to Saber Tigers, an organization designed to save big and endangered cats.  That makes Goldsmith one cool cat himself…


Candy, Chicks, & Rock ‘N’ Roll!

March 24, 2011

– – Most Easter family movies are old school cartoons better left forgotten, but Hop may set the bar higher.  Featuring E.B., the teenage son of the Easter Bunny who plays a mean set of skins and wants to become a drummer in a rock ‘n’ Roll band, the hare destined for greatness splits for Hollywood only to be hit by the car of Fred the slacker in L.A.  Alas, one cannot escape their destiny…

Taking the Easter Bunny heir in as he recovers, Fred discovers that he has the world’s worst house guest, and that they both are running from adulthood; do ‘ya blame ’em?   Hop blends state-of-the-art animation with live action, and features some cute touches,  such as the all-female special forces of the Easter Bunny, the Pink Berets, who really kick tail!

Coming to theaters from Universal Pictures on April 1st…it will leave you wanting candy, and singing the song!



Ram-bo and Gum Gimmicks…

March 21, 2011

– – Sigourney Weaver as Ellen Ripley in the Aliens series forever set the bar high for me on what a strong, take-charge woman should be, someone who can hold her own with space marines and even prevail against a ferocious mother alien in mortal combat.  None too shabby either is a young female we are treated to in the latest Stride Spark gum commercial who when charged by a ram, wrestles the sucker to the ground, and uses the power of oomph to intimidate and deter him from additional aggression.

Now we’ve seen ram-tactics successfully employed before by shadowy gum agents, those frightening secret operatives determined to retrieve the long-lasting gum from users in order to compel them to buy more gum; commercialism ain’t pretty.   In an earlier spot for Stride,  a ram is successfully deployed to strike a poor male chewer crossing a street, causing the gum to fly out of his mouth where it can be retrieved.  These same secret operatives are not above using wrestlers or even German ethnic dancers to achieve their objectives.   Probably in the future, the History Channel will link them to Freemasonry or some dark alien agenda.

I fear the gum agents and their unspeakable objectives, and like the truth, I know that they are out there…

Squirrel Goes Nuts!

March 18, 2011

– – It’s never pretty when a squirrel runs amuck and goes on the rampage in a neighborhood…and so, things must have gotten ugly indeed when a squirrel terrorized a Vermont neighborhood, attacking at least three residents and eluding wildlife control experts for more than a week!

The rascal rodent has bitten and scratched neighbors in Bennington, Vermont without apparent provocation.  One victim was shoveling snow outside his home when the sneak attack began.  “He was holding on.  He wouldn’t let go.  I was finally able to get him off, and as soon as I got him off, he just jumped right at me again,” said one man, who suffered several nasty scratches last week;  the horror, the horror…

A veterinarian has hypothesized that the gray squirrel might have been raised as a pet, and lost its fear of humans.  Wildlife authorities say its unlikely that the squirrel has rabies, as the incidence of rabid rodent cases is reportedly very low in Vermont…

…maybe the poor thing’s having an existential crisis.  At any rate, you who are traveling in Vermont have been warned, and we may at least be grateful that this squirrel doesn’t talk, wear aviator glasses, and keep company with a moose…

Geico “Cats and Dogs” Commercial…

March 14, 2011

– – In a wonderful nod to the classic car chase from the movie Bullitt as well as 1970’s detective shows (think “Starsky and Hutch”), the latest Geico “Cats and Dogs” commercial asks whether Geico can save you 15% with actor Mike McGlone answering himself,  “Do dogs chase cats?” Then we’re treated to an old-school car pursuit with a furry twist…

Cool at the wheel of an early 1970’s Mustang is an orange tabby (Jax the cat),  who doesn’t appear overly concerned about a hot pursuit by a boxer (Drake the dog) in a beat-up gas guzzler through mean city streets.  There’s even a  funky jazz fusion soundtrack to accompany the chase sequence!

While we’re not  shown the outcome of the chase, we do get a cool undercarriage shot as one of the cars vaults a rise in the road.   My money’s on the feline wheelman, who needs fear no boxer for torque art with him…


Thumb Fun, Eh?

March 6, 2011

– – Jimmy the cat is a polydactyl cat, sometimes referred to as a Hemingway cat because the writer Ernest Hemingway grew to love them after being given a six-toed cat.  Extra digits are a fairly common physical anomaly that’s sometimes caused by a genetic defect.  With an extra toe, Jimmy the cat can give the famous thumbs-up gesture made famous by the Henry Winkler super-cool character Fonzie on the 1970’s show “Happy Days.” He’s currently enjoying his fifteen minutes of fame on youtube.

The official Guinness World Record holder for the cat with the most digits is Jake, a Canadian cat with 27 digits.  A 29-toed cat from Hoboken in the U.S. named Bandit is in the process of applying for recognition…

Of Mice, Men, and Pizzas…

March 4, 2011

– – Some people bug their competition, while others inflict rodent infestations on them…or so it was in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania where a pizzeria owner with mice problems that he blamed on competitors tried to level the playing field by planting mice in two rival shops, presumably to drive them out of business.

Police authorities say that a man requested to use the bathroom in one pizzeria, taking the opportunity while in there to tuck a bag of three mice inside the drop ceiling.  He then walked across the street to another pizzeria, putting a bag of five live and one deceased mouse inside a trash can within that establishment!

The offending pizza-maker is facing charges of disorderly conduct, harassment, and animal cruelty, police said.  “We have never had anything like this where mice have been used as an instrument of crime,” said the police Superintendent.

The mice, evidently purchased the day of the crime at a nearby pet store, were turned over to animal control officers…

The Feline-Human Bond…

March 2, 2011

– – Cats are often given a bad rep by those who don’t share life with them; they’re reputed to be cold and aloof, wanting only food from their owners.–Well, in research to be published in the journal Behavioral Processes, scientists observed the interactions between 41 felines and their human families during lengthy four-part periods. Researchers also observed all behaviors of both cats and humans, and assessed their personalities as well as their influence over one another.

 

What was seen was a mutual social interaction in which both both cats and humans signaled to one another when they wanted to socially interact by petting or being petted.  Reciprocity was also in evidence, with the cats more likely to respond to owner-initiated contact if the owners had previously responded to theirs…they accordingly remember and respond to kindness, and are not cold fish (so to speak)…