Cat and Dog Are Friends

Various cats and dogs are friends, and they're doing exactly what I like to do after a hard week's work: lounge and snugs.



[via A Place to Love Dogs]

Corgi, Pounce! Corgi, Play With Your Food!

Check out those ears and paws!!!



Some puppies just take a little longer to understand English... also, to realize they don't have to kill their food. I do love watching him try, though.

[via A Place to Love Dogs, also my friend Liz who g-chatted it to me]

'The Giver' Starring Jeff Bridges?

Yeah, I'd watch that.

ICYMI: Luther Translates Obama's Victory Speech

'Key and Peele' is an awesome sketch show (I especially loved the racist zombies sketch over Halloween), but my (and clearly America's) favorite recurring sketch has got to be Luther, Obama's Anger Translator. Here he is translating Obama's victory address to the nation:



Mmm mmm... doesn't that feel good to watch?

Climate Change: Still a BFD!

Let's hope that after the "fiscal cliff" negotiations, Obama can finally focus on tackling climate change (and let's also hope they use ThinkProgress' tips to get started). New York City cannot handle a hurricane or superstorm every year (Seriously, it's awful out there).

It's a Nice Day for a Winged Wedding

Now that is one classy snitch cake! They really did a fantastic job. I still want to eat the cake, but I can appreciate the artistry (unlike the dragon cake where I just want that dragon to come alive and by my buddy!).

Definitely the most elegant Harry Potter-themed wedding cake I've seen!

[via Neatorama]

Deer and Dog are Friends

Or: Let Those Animals Feel Their Feelings!

PBS has a new documentary called, "Animal Odd Couples" which uses the instances of cross-species friendships (i.e. ____ and Dog are Friends) to explore the complex, emotional connections animals can make. The clip below is about a dog and deer, Kate and Pip:



You can watch the full episode here.

[via HuffPo TV]

Cereal Landscapes? Now I've Eaten Everything!

They'll make gorgeous landscapes I'll stare at for minutes out of anything nowadays! Not that I'm complaining, but it seems like I should really get into this racket. Admittedly, I don't know if it's lucrative, but it sure is popular! You can see more at artist Ernie Buttons' website.

[via Neatorama]

Bo Approves of the Christmas Decorations...

... Except that giant dog one - too real!




Looks like someone got his Christmas grooming early this year! Tres fluffy!

Oh Yeah, Obama Re-Elected!!

Not Sasha Obama, although cross your fingers for 2044! Barack Obama was re-elected on Nov 6th! Woo hoo! Change is continuing to come to America!

Also, no second puppy this time...

But that's ok, because insurance companies will now definitely be required by law to insure me (and anyone else with a pre-existing condition like a kidney transplant or a baby) starting in 2014, and that's puppy enough for me (for now).

Remember When Fox News Imploded? Here's a Reminder

Just in case you forgot that other thing that happened on election night:

The Daily Show
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

What a delight. What a DELIGHT!

[for more context]

Mmm... Art...

As you all know, I'm a sucker for gorgeous landscapes, desserts, and Kubrick visual references. So it must come as no surprise that I'm eating up Carl Werner's foodscapes featured over at Neatorama. Check out all of them here on his website.

Ladies Don't Be Princess'ing

In addition to Sonia Sotomayor's definition of a career, I think it should also include "must be a word that has both a noun and verb form, i.e. judge, writer, worker." Of course, in addition to "princess" this would knock "lawyer" (law'ing? I don't think so) out of the running, but would that be such a bad thing?



Also, a counterpoint:

The Colbert Report
Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,Video Archive

Wow, that writing was extremely acute. I bet the writer who wrote it is also totally a cute!

[via HuffPo TV]

Bill Nye the Meme'd Guy

This fun meme has been circling the web as some sage words of wisdom from Bill Nye the... what's it? Chemistry Man? Biology Being? Oh right! Science Dude!

Anyway, I'm thinking these less words of wisdom and more terrifying threat! What do these people know that they aren't telling me?

Wait a minute... I LIVE with someone I've met! That means the secrets are coming from INSIDE the house!!!

[via Neatorama]

More Good Animation/Lady News!

Women directors are having a great couple of days!

In addition to the eight female filmmakers lighting up Sundance, a great writer, Jennifer Lee, was named director (really co-director) of the new Disney movie, Frozen. In what almost feels like a reversal of what happened on Brave, Frozen has had a male director for at least a year now, Chris Buck. Unlike Brave, Jennifer is joining Chris, not replacing him (thus the co-director).

While I'd be even more delighted if Jennifer was directing on her own, I'm happy to see Disney giving her this chance. Considering her excellent work on the hit Wreck-It Ralph, it's unsurprising that they're giving her more to do, and the timing might even have something to do with that movie's recent success.

However it went down, congratulations to Jennifer! Animation needs more women, especially in the director's chair. Way to go!

[via Big Screen Animation]

New Pixar Movie!!!!!

There's movies a'brewin' on the Pixar front!

Writer Derek Connelly (Safety Not Guaranteed) spilled the beans that he's working with director Teddy Newton (Day and Night, which is the rare Pixar short I was not really a fan of - just didn't get the hype. People were super obsessing over it and I thought it was... fine?) on a new Pixar feature. Of course, we probably won't see the film before 2017 or even get a glimmer of news as to what it's about before 2014, but it's always good to know they have new, interesting writers working on their team.

In other news, he's also working on a remake of 1986's Flight of the Navigator, which I recently discovered my fiance hasn't seen before! Got it on the Netflix yesterday - totally watching it tonight or tomorrow. I hope it holds up. It was one of my brother's favorite movies when we were little. I loved the weird little animals - duh.

Best of luck, Derek! 99% of screenwriters (yours truly included!) are incredibly jealous of you. Don't screw it up!

[via /Film]

Julian McCullough on 'Love You, Mean It' on E!

My friend Julian McCullough is in a new show on E! called "Love You, Mean It!" It's a talk show hosted by Whitney Cummings, and Julian is the super funny sidekick! This show has been in development for a crazy-long time, so I am SO happy that it's finally airing. Your hard work is paying off, Julian! Way to go!

The clip below is from the first episode, (where her guest was the incredibly awesome/funny Mindy Kaling!) where Julian is talking to strangers!

 

An App of Ice and Fire

'Game of Thrones' just got a reboot. No, there's not a movie or a network sitcom based on it (but seriously, what property doesn't have a network script in development right now, am I right? Hamlet? Two Wuthering Heights'? Come on!) - There's a new iOS app called "George R.R. Martin's A World of Ice and Fire - A Game of Thrones Guide" that's got fun pictures and descriptions of all the characters in the books, plus interactive maps and location profiles. Another cool feature? You can buy the app individually per book so as not to spoil information you haven't read yet!

I still haven't decided to read the books yet (I'm a big fan of the series and I'm a little worried that the books will make me like it less... I almost want to wait until the series is over, then read the books, if that makes sense?) but this seems like a really stellar companion piece. Way to go, Random House and its team of nerds for creating it!

[via ThinkProgress]

Sundance with a little Half and Half

Half men and half women directors, that is! Eight of next year's sixteen dramas were directed by women, a new record and a huge jump from this year's three. Woo hoo! Ladies making it on their own - literally!

While Sundance wasn't specifically looking to have an equal representation of male and female directors, this is a fantastic step forward. Of course, now we have to hope for two more things:

1) These women find distributors for their films while in Utah (and, of course, that they perform well in theaters)
2) Sundance continues to pick a similar degree of female directors from now on.

We can dream!

[via ThinkProgress]

US Researching Cheaper Batteries for Electric Vehicles

Batteries are expensive, but apparently it's even more expensive to find cheaper ways to produce and maintain them. Of course, that doesn't mean it's not a worthy endeavor, so I'm glad to see that the government is still investing in it. Best of luck! And don't forget about wind and solar!

Mmmm... Dragon Cake...

I want the dragon on this cake to be my pet/best friend. We'd do everything together, and it would scare off all the people are mean to me, and let my friends and fiance nibble on its tail scales (also, it would regenerate new tail scales, possibly by me making them out of sugar and flour).

Also, in general, the intricacy of the wings and the realism of the dragon as a whole are inspiring. No one should eat this cake! Well, not the dragon part. They can have the rest of the cake with the blue smoke rings.

Seriously, how classy are those blue smoke rings and that clean, modern white icing covering the rest of it? If I was going to have a super weird theme-y cake, this would definitely be it (or that really classy snitch wedding cake I saw a few weeks ago. That was lovely, too).

[via Neatorama]

I Wish I Was a Puppy Again (Ok, in the first place)

Ugh. I hear ya, pup! This is how I've felt most of my life, which is ironic considering how tiny I am. But you know, it was "emotional" growing up or whatever. Boo.

[via Neatorama]

Tesla S: Car of the Future, Also, the Year 2013

And 2013 is almost here, so the future is now!

Congratulations to Tesla on winning the Motor Trend Car of the Year 2013 for their Model S all-electric sedan! They've worked long and hard for a success like this, and I hope that this win will bolster its sales now and for the foreseeable future, since they've still got quite a row to hoe.

Also, it seats seven!? That's crazy and also awesome. If only we had this car growing up, I wouldn't have had to spend so many trips nestled underneath the front passenger seat like a cat so that the cops wouldn't pull us over for having six people in a five-person car.

[via Scientific American]

ICYMI: Colbert on Colbert

Longie by a goodie.

Did You Win $550 Million!?

That's great if you did!!! Please, tell me how you chose 5, 16, 22, 23 29 and Powerball 6 as your numbers? Isn't it creepy that 22 and 23 are in numerical order (not just in this winning lottery ticket, but also in life? Ok, I guess it's not creepy in life)?

Also, remember that you can donate a couple hundred million to charity without missing a beat. Just saying! You don't know of any charities? Not even NKF, Puppies Behind Bars, or Corporate Accountability International? Oh! Well, I guess now you do. That makes the decision easier!

Up, Up, and Upway!

...Yeah, that looks like fun. I know, I know, what's the difference between it and a hot air balloon, really? Not much, except that it looks the one in the beloved movie!

Also, that's some beautiful imagery right there.

Professional cluster balloonist (i.e. many smaller balloons instead of one giant one) Jonathan Trappe flew his makeshift Ellie House from North Carolina to Leon, Mexico. It may not be South America, but it's still amazing. You can read more about Jonathan at his website.

[via /Film]

A Walking Weenie!

Weenie dog, that is! Just look at Jasper go!



I understand what the scientist is saying in regards to this not being super helpful for all paralyzed patients, but a) at least it's good for dogs and b) I'm sure it will help humans in some way - we're pretty good and bending new discoveries to our will.

[via Scientific American]

Thank You, Dr. Murray

Dr. Joseph E. Murray passed away yesterday at the age of 93. He was a leader in the field of transplantation (especially kidney transplants), and his breakthroughs earned him a Nobel Prize in 1990 (in addition to the never-ending thanks from transplant patients everywhere!).

He performed the first successful kidney transplant in 1954 on a set of identical twins. From there, they worked hard to produce new ways to suppress the immune system so that anyone with compatible blood types could donate to one another.

Without him and his work, I wouldn't be around today.

Thank you, Dr. Murray. As you said, your work "is a prayer." Thank you.

You can read his full obituary (it's fascinating) over at the Guardian.

Matthew Albanese: Faux-Landscape Master

Nope, you're not staring at a gorgeous sunset on the desert plains. You're looking at faux-fur, cotton balls, sifted tile grout, and a trick of the white balance. All thanks to artist Matthew Albanese. As someone who loves both tiny things and things that look like other things, this is a delight. There are tons more at his website.

Enjoy!

[via Mental Floss]

Can We Make Green Buildings Safe Buildings, Too, Please?

So apparently, some super efficient spray-foam and foam board insulations contain super harmful flame retardant chemicals. The good news is that the parts that makes them efficient doesn't make them harmful, and the extra fire protection is overkill. The bad news is that currently there's no incentive for these companies to stop putting the harmful chemicals in the foam or board, because the US doesn't have any regulations against them in consumer products (even though there have been studies showing they cause harm in animals). Here's hoping that by getting the word out that these chemicals are harmful and unnecessary, maybe these companies will get their act together and take them out of their otherwise legitimately helpful, efficient products.

I Voted!!

And it feels SO GOOD! I hope you all voted, too!! (and if you're on the west coast - GO VOTE NOW! You still have time!!!)