Oh Hell Yes.

DYNAMISM OF A DOG ON A LEASH 1912

Giacomo Balla (July 18, 1871 – March 1, 1958)

Currently at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery  Buffalo New York

Thylacine

Benjamin, the last known thylacine, Hobart Zoo, 1933

‘The thylacine was the largest known carnivorous marsupial of modern times. It is commonly known as the Tasmanian tiger. Native to continental Australia, Tasmania and New Guinea, it is thought to have become extinct in the 20th century.

‘The thylacine had become extremely rare or extinct on the Australian mainland before European settlement of the continent, but it survived on the island of Tasmania. Intensive hunting encouraged by bounties is generally blamed for its extinction. Despite its official classification as extinct, sightings are still reported, though none proven.’

- Wikipedia

Thylacine rock art at Ubirr c.1000BC

Bagged thylacine, 1869

Thylacine with a chicken, 1921. This image was widely distributed and may have helped secure the animal's reputation as a poultry thief. In fact the image is cropped to hide the thylacine's fenced run and housing.

Thylacine family at Beaumaris Zoo in Hobart, 1910

Happy Sunday

R.I.P Shrek The Sheep!

Shrek the New Zealand sheep, whose ability to avoid the shearers made him a national celebrity, has died.

Shrek came to prominence in 2004 after evading capture for six years by hiding in caves on the South Island.

The cunning Merino lost his giant 27kg (60lb) fleece in a televised shearing.

The 16-year-old sheep had a high-profile career. He met then Prime Minister Helen Clark, became the subject of several children's books and made regular charity appearances.

"Shrek's owner, John Perriam, of Bendigo Hill station, said the famous sheep had to be put down over the weekend because of age-related illnesses.

"He was just an ordinary sheep, went awol and hid, and when he was found he became the darling of the nation," Mr Perriam told local broadcaster TVNZ.

"He had an unbelievable personality. He loved children and he was really good with the elderly in retirement homes."

Shrek's giant fleece - enough to make 20 large men's suits - was auctioned off in 2004 for children's medical charities.

Josie Spillane of Cure Kids said over the years Shrek had raised more than $150,000 (£75,000) for the charity, which funded research into life-threatening illnesses.

"At the end of the day, it is the death of an iconic Kiwi. He just happens to be a sheep," she told the Southland Times.

Local reports said a memorial service would be held for Shrek at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Tekapo, and that his owner planned to place a bronze statue of the sheep in the local town.

Mr Perriam said that Shrek's legacy would continue."

While driving through New Zealand, Steven and I ended up in a teeny tiny small town claiming to be the home of "shrek the sheep". We walked through a little museum in a house, dedicated to Shrek, flipped through books about him, and it was clear that we were the only people who didnt know who he was.

My favorite fact about Shrek was that they flew this goddamn sheep onto a mammoth ICEBERG, in order to give his shearing the drama it deserved.

This really happened.

I love the kiwis. 

Centaurs!

‘Although Skulls Unlimited generally articulates species that actually exist, we are sometimes asked to create custom skeletal mounts, such as this Centaur, created using the torso of a real human skeleton and melding it with the body of a horse’

I love this, mainly because when i was a kid, I thought the centaurs from Fantasia were soooo pretty, I wanted to be one.

They lounged around all day!

They had servants!

Oh wait. This never happened.

This has been my desktop background for the past six months:

This is nice too. The centaurettes were reportedly supposed to be topless, but were censored.

All of Pastoral Symphony below (nice, high quality), centaurs start at the 5 minute mark:

The Near Extinction Of Bison In The 1800s

As the populations of the United States pushed West in the early 1800’s, a lucrative trade for the fur, skin, and meat of the American Bison began in the great plains. Bison slaughter was further encouraged by the US government as a means of starving out or removing Native American populations that relied on the bison for food. Hunting of bison became so prevalent that travelers on trains in the Midwest would shoot bison during long-haul train trips. 

Once numbering in the hundreds of millions in North America, the population of the American Bison decreased to less than 1000 by 1890. Thanks in large part to conservation efforts undertaken by Theodore Roosevelt and by the US government, there are now over 500,000 bison in America.

When You Need That Extra Oomph Of Ridiculousness...

Just throw on a pink fox and get it over with.

Random Wikipedia Knowledge:

I found this the other night when I was falling down the Wiki rabbit hole....

What do all these animals have in common?  There the only three members of a mammal group known as Xenarthra

Weirdness.

Johnathan Adler Lollipop Holder

Since I am now a desk monkey (at least till tomorrow when we begin to redo our floor, woot!), Im online more than ever, which I didnt think was possible.
We've been giving out lollipops to our clients kids when they come in and I think I just found the cutest lollipop holder on the planet! Everything in the salon has to pretty much black or white, so this is perfect. Thank you Johnathan Adler! He always has whimsy down pat, or as he calls it, "happy chic".

Something else amazing? His condom caddy! HELLO!

Trees Cocooned In Spiders Webs

An unexpected side-effect of the flooding in parts of Pakistan has been that millions of spiders climbed up into the trees to escape the rising flood waters.

Because of the scale of the flooding and the fact that the water has taken so long to recede, many trees have become cocooned in spiders webs. People in this part of Sindh have never seen this phenonemon before - but they also report that there are now less mosquitos than they would expect, given the amoungt of stagnant, standing water that is around.

It is thought that the mosquitos are getting caught in the spiders web thus reducing the risk of malaria, which would be one blessing for the people of Sindh, facing so many other hardships after the floods

Pigeons

More Award Winning Pigeons...

I feel like the top pigeon. For the past week, there has been absolutely no stopping. Zero. I finally hit a wall today. I haven't felt so lethargic in a long time. The way my body is, if I don't rest enough I become very worn down, very fast, and really just deteriorate from there. I've already been battling a staph infection on the left side of my body, and either a detached eardrum or a torn ligament in my right ear. Sleeping has been a drag. I started feeling faint the last half of the day, and Ive apparently been so painful to look at that Steven has demanded I take tomorrow off.

We knocked out the painting the past two days, did two coats, and it changed everything. I knew it would be high impact, but it was more than I could even ask for. 

We also ordered our signage today! We'll have it next week, and I'm super excited. Tonight we're going to order our ceiling as well. Popping out and popping in 125 tiles is going to be a bitch, but one thing at a time.
In good news, Steven is already booked up weeks in advance, and theres been no slow down in his schedule. Absolutely aces!
Before and after photos of our paintjob soon!

Tomorrow is our one year anniversary. My oh my how things change.

Would It Be Called A "Log"?

A chinnesse farmer is claiming one of his sheep gave birth to a dog/lamb hybrid.
I love shit like this.
Full article here: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1369977/Sheep-gives-birth-dog-Chinese-farm-Ewe-got-kidding.html?ITO=1490

My Every Morning

This Sort Of Shit Makes Me Nervous.

Authorities in Redondo Beach are investigating what killed millions of fish over the last day at King Harbor Marina.

Fish, including anchovies, sardines and mackerel were floating lifeless in Basins 1 and 2 of the north side of King Harbor Marina.

"There’s basically fish everywhere you go in the harbor," said the harbor's assistant manager, Jason McMullin, who added that there were reports that a red tide may have driven the fish into the harbor in massive numbers where they died because of limited oxygen.

Redondo Beach public works officials were dispatched to the harbor to investigate further but did not have immediate comment.

Redondo Beach officials said initial assessments suggest oxygen depletion in the King Harbor basins caused the massive fish die-off.

City Manager Bill Workman said city officials with the help of marine experts would help determine if there was any environmental issue involved. Tests are now being performed on the water as officials begin removing the dead fish, which city officials estimated to be in the millions.

“There are no visible signs of any toxins that might have caused [the die-off] and our early assessment is that this was oxygen depletion,” Workman said. “This is similar to what we experienced five years ago but that was distinctly a red tide event but there’s no discoloration of the water, no associated foaming in the waves, Workman said. “There are no oil slicks or leaking of substances into the water.”

Workman noted that the harbor had been teeming in recent weeks with bait fish that even after their deaths “had no signs of degradation.”

Two dog night

This is Reggie:

He is a 4 year old Yorkiepoo, and he came as a package deal with steven. He's cute, low maintenence, has a funny little personality, and he's the best dog you could inherit....

But he's not mine.

I could give him all the bacon and walks in the world, and he still merely tolerates me. He absolutely adores Steven, and Steven adores him. They have their own little pack that I'm just not part of, and sometimes I actually find myself jealous of a DOG.

I am the dog version of a stepmother.

Reggie is a couple inches too long, and a couple pounds too heavy be a lap dog, which is what I really crave. I've never seriously entertained the idea of getting a dog until recently. I never wanted the added responsibility, but since we've already got a dog, adding another one to the pile doesn't seem like it would be that difficult.

This is Pun:

She is a 14 year old Yorkie mix, and shes been around since I was 14. She lives with my parents, and she's been dog napped for the next two days by me. 

While Reggie is calm, to himself, and well behaved, Pun is badly behaved, will look at you like she doesn't know what you're talking about, and is in your face. Essentially, Reggie is Steven and Pun is me.

The more Ive been around other dogs, the more I've realized that Pun is nuts.

But its so much fun! In the way that Cate Blanchett may be a better actress, but Sharon Stone is who you want to spend a lost weekend with. Crazy can be fun.

Pun is getting older, she gets tired easily, and she has good days and bad days. All I require is that she cuddle, and favor me, and that, she can do.

If Im the stepmother equivalent to Reggie, I'm the Grandmother equivalent to Pun. For the next two days she'll be encouraged to be an absolute brat, and sent home to my parents completely ruined.

I've already booked her a shampoo and hair cut tomorrow at Pussy and Pooch, the type of place gay men and rich cat ladies buy $300 dog bowls. Her treatment comes complete with a "blueberry facial" and paw balm. Really. 

She's a lot furrier than this picture, the longest shes been in years. She looks like chewbaca.

Before and After photos tomorrow!