Palm Beach’s Sharks…

Posted March 8, 2013 by vulpesffb
Categories: animal behavior, animal presence, animals, aquatic

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shark– – Just when you thought that it was safe to get back into the water again, tens of thousands of blacktip and spinner sharks are migrating north up the eastern coast of the U.S., shutting down beaches in Florida!

Now shark sightings are not uncommon for South Florida beaches, and their migration is an annual occurrence.  What’s uncommon, however, is that the migration usually starts and ends sooner, well ahead of spring break season.  Blacktip sharks only account for 20% of unprovoked shark attacks in Florida, but with 15,000 sharks counted by researchers and some less than 200 yards from shore, lifeguards aren’t taking chances…

Little Caesar’s Horse Costume Commercial!

Posted March 5, 2013 by vulpesffb
Categories: absurdities, animals, Brilliant but twisted, furry commercials, television

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little caesars– – Somewhere in life, we’ve all seen some variation of the old horse costume gag…you know, a costume where one guy poses as the front end of a horse, and his hapless partner literally brings up the rear!  Well, a recent Little Caesar’s commercial takes us to a costume party where we see two dudes in that classic horse costume get-up with their component pieces separated, and a girl in a princess costume brings it to their attention that Little Caesar’s is offering pepperoni pizza for a mere five bucks!

Galvanized into action, our two heroes then dash out the door where we cut to a scene of a magnificent stallion galloping hard across the desert to suitable rousing music!  The scene then changes again to the interior of a Little Caesar’s restaurant where we see the front end of the horse bent over and gasping for breath, poor guy.  The guy in the rear end arrives just slightly later, sweated but able to voice their pizza order.- -It’s a great revival of the classic horse costume gag, and the noble equine tradition!

 

Furries and the Harlem Shake!

Posted March 3, 2013 by vulpesffb
Categories: absurdities, animal presence, anthropomorphic, furries, music, videos

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Harlem Shake

– – The Harlem Shake is kind of a flash mob performance or  “happening,” a kind of random visual absurdity that is both a dance and a song.  Since furries are no strangers to absurdity but rather exist within and delight in it, it’s no wonder that a number of videos are out there showing furries from locations around the world performing the Harlem Shake.- -Anyways, I’d rather see some fursons in well-make outfits performing the number than someone in a cheesy banana suit!

Animal influences have figured in a number of dance crazes, such as the horse dance featured in the Gangnam Style video by PSY, so why not enjoy such things?- -It’s the weekend, after all!  One must learn when to stop making sense…

Brickleberry…

Posted March 1, 2013 by vulpesffb
Categories: animal presence, animals, anthropomorphic, cartoons, furry, television

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Malloy– – ‘Toon bears are less common and often forgettable, so I’m glad to find something different.  Both Brickleberry and Yogi Bear are set in fictitious national parks, and include the relationships between bears and park rangers, but the resemblance ends there!  The Comedy Channel show Brickleberry is anything but clean and wholesome, and the center of focus for me is an anthropomorphic grizzly bear cub named Malloy who is crude, politically incorrect, narcissistic, has a superiority complex, and delights in putting down and messing with the park rangers, none of whom are normal individuals!  His parents unintentionally slain, Malloy has been raised by humans, and excessive indulgence in video games and junk food have turned him into something dark and sardonic that nature never intended; this is Baby Stewie from Family Guy in a fursuit!   Yogi Bear and Boo-Boo wouldn’t last five minutes with him, and Brickleberry is anything but Jellystone Park!

In addition to being likened to Family Guy, the show has also been compared to South Park in terms of trying to be offensive and pushing the boundaries, with violent and sexual content making this not a show for the kiddies…but what a bear we have in Malloy!

(note:  This post originally appeared Feb. 28th but was unintentionally deleted when I removed a draft, and so is regenerated here; my apologies to blog subscribers!)

Maxwell Pulled Over!

Posted February 25, 2013 by vulpesffb
Categories: absurdities, animal spokepersons, animals, anthropomorphic, Brilliant but twisted, furry, furry commercials, television

Tags: ,

maxwell pulled over  – – We’ve all heard of pulled pork, but Geico takes Maxwell the pig to a different level of meaning with this when a police officer pulls his blue convertible over in a recent commercial.  Maxwell hands the officer his license and registration as well as his Geico digital insurance card.  Now it turns out that the cop doesn’t have a problem with the fact that a pig is driving, but rather the fact that Maxwell’s tail light is out.  “Fix it!,” orders the cop before walking away.

At least we haven’t seen an example of species profiling from the unflappable officer…

Visions of Flying Monkeys…

Posted February 22, 2013 by vulpesffb
Categories: animals, anthropomorphic, furry, furry film classics, furry sidekicks, movies

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flying monkey

– – In the beginning, there was the classic The Wizard of Oz in 1939, based on L. Frank Baum’s 1900 novel, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Disney had contemplated an animated film based on the first of Baum’s Oz books, but lost out the rights to MGM in 1938, and the rest became film history. Disney Productions did acquire the rights to the remaining thirteen Oz books in 1954, and in 1985, Disney produced Return to Oz, a rather dark and eerie film which was not exactly child-friendly or in the spirit of its predecessor, and so performed poorly, both critically and commercially.  The Oz franchise was then basically put into mothballs for more than a quarter century…and lo, I have waited these many years for a really good flying monkey, one with a discernible personality, not just one of the “Army of Darkness” type drones that served the Wicked Witch in the original…

…and at long last, Sam Raimi, who gave us the Spiderman trilogy, appears poised to deliver just that!  In Oz the Great and Powerful, we are given flying monkeys that not only talk, but are gentle and whimsical creatures, worthy furry sidekicks!  We are also given so much more…three witches, and the backstories to the Oz saga that fleshes out both the place, and the “Wizard” who becomes its reluctant and faltering savior.  Constructed as a “prequel” to the original 1939 classic, this film has big shoes to fill, but just might pull it off…but don’t expect to see ruby slippers, they are copyrighted to the original.  It will be so good to see the Wicked Witch again, as the better the villain, the better the tale!  And the green-hued one looks awesome!

Oz the Great and Powerful is coming to theaters March 8th…and as always, best witches to you all!

Fishy, Fishy…

Posted February 19, 2013 by vulpesffb
Categories: absurdities, animal spokepersons, animals, anthropomorphic, aquatic, furry commercials, television

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cabin– – When an asteroid passes within a cosmic whisker of Earth and a meteorite smashes down in the former Soviet Union, one might not be totally surprised that small, plaque-mounted anthropomorphic fish are becoming more vocal than humans.  In a variant of the McDonald’s Fish McBites commercial, we again visit with the young gentleman in the checked plaid shirt, this time in a beautiful, wood-paneled cabin.

Two young women enter the cabin through the door and see the young guy feeding his face.  “Hey, what are those?,” asks one of the women, clearly no more of a Rhodes scholar than the guy.  Fortunately, the fish themselves are well-able to answer her query, with one responding and then the group of mounted fish launching into a rhythmic cadence of “Fishy, fishy!- – Fish, fish McBites!- -McBites!”  Soon all of the trio are munching away on the item, with the guy saying not a word during the whole commercial, even to the women…

…and I thought that fish were reputed to be “brain food!”   articulate fish

 

 

The Petrified Cat Market…

Posted February 15, 2013 by vulpesffb
Categories: animals, anomalies, medical incredibles, strange, television, weird

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Oddities– – It’s hard to find a good petrified cat; most are dried out and decayed, and don’t smell very good.  There are aesthetics to be considered when buying a petrified cat, or for that matter, a mummified squirrel; not just any one will do!

Enter the bizarre world of macabre memorabilia as presented through the Science Channel and the Discovery Channel documentary/reality show Oddities, which details the operations of Obscura Antiques & Oddities as they go about procuring oddball items like deformed skeletons, skulls, child-sized straitjackets, and archaic medical items for eager clients.  –Remember that one man’s trash is another’s treasure, and that there’s a market for almost everything in this world! 

The show debuted in 2010, and is now in it’s fourth season.  Operating out of the East Village in New York City (–where else?), the business has been overwhelmed by people trying to sell petrified cats and mummified squirrels that they found in their attics, and as a result is no longer in the market for them.  It’s hardly your grandmother’s antique shop…this is far more interesting!

 

McDonald’s Fish McBites “Fish Plaque”

Posted February 14, 2013 by vulpesffb
Categories: absurdities, animal spokepersons, aquatic, furry commercials, scalies, television

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Fish McBites– – Something’s fishy here!  A few years back in 2009, McDonald’s produced an irritatingly memorable singing fish commercial, with the fish modeled after the singing “Billy Bass” novelty item, an electronic mounted fish that sang and moved about on its mounting.  It was the kind of thing that you got tired of after seeing about twice.  The earlier McDonald’s fish commercial could haunt you.  “Gimme back that Filet of Fish, give me that fish!,” sang the McDonald’s spokes-fish.  It took me some time to get that commercial out of my head…(shudders!)

…and what could be more memorable than a singing fish on a plaque?- -How about fifteen minnow-sized fish on a plaque, all singing together to sell you McDonald’s Fish McBites, now available for only a dollar, and for a limited time only!   “Fishy, fishy!,” they sing while a guy in a checked flannel shirt stands there with his mouth open holding a dollar…the fish, they’re back, and are multiplying!

Absolut Greyhounds…

Posted February 11, 2013 by vulpesffb
Categories: animals, fantasy, furry, furry commercials, sci fi, television

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greyhounds – – If Skynet designed greyhounds, they would probably look something like these beauties; starkly striking robotic greyhound creatures who are racing for their lives in a Mad Max styled desert wasteland.  Both a music video and a commercial, the video features the music of electronic dance trio Swedish House Mafia, who appropriately perform their track, Greyhound, while electronically transformed in the video to robotic dogs who chase a floating orb.  Bizarrely costumed guests watch the greyhounds go through their paces while drinking Absolut cocktails served by a  waiter in a mask with animal styling.

It’s kind of a desert masquerade ball that is surreal and futuristic, with stunning detailed visual imagery and intense electro-house music.  Some have objected to the commercial, however, for its depiction of greyhound racing, an activity often described as animal cruelty…