I want to watch some dik diks fight

Search: dik diks fight; dik diks fighting

Why: In "America's Next Top Animal Graphic Trend" on Hello Giggles:

Dik Dik
If Lady GaGa were to design a baby deer, I’m pretty sure it would look like this. Extra dainty legs, ant-eater nose, teacup stature. My favorite thing about dik diks is that they almost never fight. But when they must, dik diks just run towards each other only to stop short and aggressively shake their heads until somebody gives up. Is this not the animal kingdom’s two snaps up?? Diva!

Answer: Well, I'm not sure that's entirely true. These guys appear to be knocking skulls:

I saw some dik diks in Kenya in 2000, and o my god, they were precious.

Source: YouTube

The More You Know: I also found a bunch of videos from a Japanese guy who owns several fennec foxes and also a cat, of course. Maybe I want to name a child Fennec.

Fun fact: The fox in The Little Prince was hot probs a fennec fox.

The French aviator and writer Antoine de Saint-Exupéry made a reference, in a letter written to his sister Didi from Cape Juby in 1918, to his raising a fennec that he adored. Saint-Exupéry also mentioned encountering a fennec when wandering in Sahara when his plane crashed there in 1935. The fennecs he had known in these two contexts are considered to have inspired the fox character in Saint-Exupéry's The Little Prince.

What is a group of stingrays called?

Search: group of stingrays name

Why: I'm still in Florida, y'all. Today, Sadie and Meggan and I went on WaveRunners to look for dolphins. We saw lots of dolphins, and we also saw lots of stingrays. They looked like they were flapping their wings. They were traveling in packs. What are they called? A school? A flock? A fesnyng?

Answer: Who knows! I see these names:

• Draught!
• Drift!
• Scale!
• School!
• Shaol!
• Fever!
  

Source: Yahoo! Answers, Wikipedia,

The More You Know: The word "school" (like 'school of fish') may be a corruption of the word "shoal" - like Mussel Shoals. Or it may have come from somewhere else:

School of fish was borrowed from Middle Dutch schōle, "troop, group." This went back to West Germanic skulo, which may have been derived from the base skel-, skul- "split, divide" (source also of English scale, scalp, shell, etc); if so, it would mean etymologically a ‘division’.

Maybe 'shoal' came from that, too. Who knows.

I want to see a Bergamasco puppy

Search: bergamasco puppy

Why: I am doing something for work. Did you guys know I started a new job? It's why I have been so lax about bloggin. Today, I'm checking for duplicate content on one of our sites, Puppy Dog Web. Things could be worse. On the Bergamasco breed page:

They are working dogs with a coat recognizable in any country. Their coats are unique to only a few breeds, in that their fur actually grows into long mats that eventually turn into "cords" that are twisted and rough. Bergamascos largely resemble that of a dirty mop in that their fur is gray or black, with a light coloring of fawn and white. Its flocked coat is considered to be hair, not fur, and thus non-allergenic

When does it get like that? And why?

Answer: Omg.

Look at those goddamn things. The name comes from the town Bergamo in the Italian Alps.

Source: Google Images

The More You Know: And some Puli puppies. I always thought these dogs looked gross / not inviting to pet, but I think I would really like to touch one of those little ones.

What did Thomas Edison due to an elephant?

Search: edison elephant

Why: When Rachel said someone spoiled The Usual Suspects for her, Jeff said:

I hope it wasn't me.

I recently spoiled Edison's Electrocuting an Elephant for the wife.



1903.

Don't tell him, but he just spoiled it for me, too.

Answer: He electrocuted it to death! Oh god...

BUT it turns out this was a very mean elephant who had already trampled to death 3 handlers (one of whom was trying to feed her a lit cigarette) and was scheduled to be euthanized. So it's OK then.

He did it as a demonstration about the dangers of alternating current, which Westinghouse and Tesla were touting. Edison had established direct current at the standard for electricity distribution and was living large off the patent royalties when these guys showed up.

Edison's aggressive campaign to discredit the new current took the macabre form of a series of animal electrocutions using AC (a killing process he referred to snidely as getting "Westinghoused"). Stray dogs and cats were the most easily obtained, but he also zapped a few cattle and horses.

So he found this elephant. A news report:

Topsy, the ill-tempered Coney Island elephant, was put to death in Luna Park, Coney Island, yesterday afternoon. The execution was witnessed by 1,500 or more curious persons, who went down to the island to see the end of the huge beast, to whom they had fed peanuts and cakes in summers that are gone. In order to make Topsy's execution quick and sure 460 grams of cyanide of potassium were fed to her in carrots. Then a hawser was put around her neck and one end attached to a donkey engine and the other to a post. Next wooden sandals lined with copper were attached to her feet. These electrodes were connected by copper wire with the Edison electric light plant and a current of 6,600 volts was sent through her body. The big beast died without a trumpet or a groan.

Yuck!

Is it weird that we have pictures of these guys? Or is it weirder that I don't think I had any idea what Thomas Edison looked like until right now?

Source: Wired.com, Railway Bridge

The More You Know: I was thinking the other day about how funny it is that my cat and dog just walk on and over me as though I'm not even there. I wish we had some giant animals to just walk and climb on all the time without being afraid they would bite me. Baby elephants climb like puppies.

Why did Philippe Croizon have his limbs amputated?

Search: Phillipe Croizon

Why: Edward just posted this article with the tagline, "This guy clearly aspires to get eaten":

Philippe Croizon, Quadruple Amputee, To Brave Shark-Infested Crossings Between Five Continents

Croizon, who made a splash with his English Channel swim in 2010, is going to dive into open seas again, Agence France Presse reported.

A custom pair of flippers enables the limbless Croizon to swim.

With Arnaud Chassery, a former long-distance swimming champion, Croizon will start an aquatic tour in May 2012 in the Pacific Ocean with a 12-mile crossing between coastal towns in Papua New Guinea and Indonesia in an area known to be a shark and poisonous jellyfish habitat.

Etc. Where did his pre-existing limbs go? Into a shark's mouth? Because if so, he's really just an asshole.

Answer: Ha shoot:

• "A freak accident"
• His amputations were required due to a severe electric shock accident which occurred in March 1994.

And if I had scrolled to the bottom of the original article, I might have seen this:

• Croizon lost his arms and legs in 1994 after he was electrocuted while adjusting a television antennae on the roof.

That sucks.

Source: Daily Mail, Wikipedia, AOL

The More You Know: Speaking of sharks, I am going to the beach next week (in Florida, not California). Will I go in the ocean? I can't say for sure yet, but I will keep in mind that bull sharks attack in less than 2 feet of water, and also that they like to kill people in all parts of Florida, including Destin. Other sharks do, too!

Fatal, unprovoked shark attacks in Florida in the last 10 years:

• Thadeus Kubinski, 69 (8/30/2000) - Killed by a bull shark while swimming in Pinellas County, FL. Witnesses said Kubinski had jumped into the water from the dock behind his home for his daily swim and was splashing vigorously. The shark raced toward him with its dorsal fin out of the water. He died from massive blood loss and organ damage before rescuers could get to him. The shark was estimated to be 9 ft long and weigh 400 lbs.
• Eric Reichardt, 42 (9/16/01) - Drowned while diving on the wreck of the Ronald B. Johnson in 270 ft of water 2 miles off Pompano Beach, FL fighting off a bull or tiger shark. His diving regulator may have fallen out of his mouth causing him to drown.
• Jamie Marie Daigle, 14 (6/25/05) - Killed while swimming with a friend on boogie boards about 200 yards off a beach in Walton County, FL, 8 miles east of Destin, FL. Witnesses estimated the shark was 6–8 ft long.
• Stephen Howard Schafer, 38 (2/3/10) - Killed by a bull shark while kitesurfing at approximately 4:15 p.m. about 500 yards off an unguarded section of a beach south of Stuart Beach in Martin County, FL. Authorities initially thought that multiple sharks may have been involved in the incident due to reports by rescuers that he was surrounded by sharks; the Martin County medical examiner's office concluded that he died from massive blood loss from a leg wound

Can you guess how many fatal shark attacks have occurred on dry land? I bet you can.

If you are in California and thinking about joining Saturday Surf Club, don't forget to check the Pacific Coast Shark Watch (for reports about shark sightings this week at Long Beach, Newport, Seal Beach, etc.) every single day until you change your mind. And maybe also think about this poor kid:

• Lucas McKaine Ransom, 19 (10/22/2010) - Died after a great white shark pulled him off his bodyboard just before 9 a.m. about 100 yards off Surf Beach near in Santa Barbara County, CA. He suffered the loss of his left leg, resulting in massive blood loss. The shark that attacked Ransom is believed to have been 17–18 ft long, weighing approximately 4,000 lbs.

I want to see some toad spawn

Search: toad spawn

Why: Rachel just posted:

Toad Spawn is quite different to frog spawn. The main reason is because the toad spawn, instead of being a large clump of jelly with eggs in, is a string of jelly containing eggs.

Answer: It's true!

Source: Google Images

The More You Know: For comparison, frog spawn:

What does an adult Pseudocreobotra wahlbergii look like?

Search: Pseudocreobotra wahlbergii

Why: In National Geographic's Photography Contest 2010:

Praying Mantis – Pseudocreobotra wahlbergii. This beautiful whalbergii evolved through two of its nymph-stages on the Barberton Daisy at left, surviving because of its bright color which blended so well with the flower. Towards the end of its growth into an adult, it became a little more adventurous (but not much more) as pictured here. Once it had shed the layer in this picture, it became a fully-fledged adult, and departed after about two weeks. Total stay in this tiny ecosystem was approximately six weeks. (Photo and caption by Fred Turck)

What the hell kind of bug is that?

Answer: First, it's a species of mantis called a "spiny flower mantis." Here it is in different stages. Look how weird and fancy!

Source: GOLDENORFE, Google Images

The More You Know:

What's the origin of the word "jumbo"?

Search: jumbo etymology

Why: A newsanchor teased a story about a "jumbo jet," which I sometimes can't believe is a real name for anything. Jumbo is a name for elephants. Or strip clubs.

Answer: It might have come from the Kikongo word nzamba, which actually meant "elephant"! In 1823, jumbo was a slang term that meant "clumsy, unwieldy fellow," and then the London Zoo had a huge elephant named Jumbo that they sold to P.T. Barnum in Feb. 1882.

He was captured by traders in Abyssinia in 1861, and he died in St. Thomas, ON, in 1885 after stepping in front of a train to save the life of another baby elephant. Well, maybe. The Railway City Brewing Company in St. Thomas brews that classy Dead Elephant Ale up there.

Source: EtymOnline

The More You Know: Barnum, a trustee of Tufts College, donated Jumbo's taxidermied carcass to the school in 1889. He is the school mascot, and I guess they are called the Tufts Jumbos (and by "they" I mean whatever sports teams they have, if they even have any; I've never heard of them). Jumbo's corpse was housed in the campus's Barnum Hall with a bunch of other animal specimens.

He was a big hit with the college's athletes, who adopted him as their mascot, while their coaches invoked his strength and bravery in pre-game pep talks.

For 86 years, Jumbo was a veritable mecca for students, their parents and other campus visitors. Students would pop pennies in his trunk or give a tug on his tail to bring luck for an upcoming exam or athletics competition.

In 1975, an electrical fire wiped out the whole collection, including everything but Jumbo's tail. His ashes are now kept in a Peter Pan Peanut Butter jar on the desk of the Tufts athletics director.

What did Pam's back tattoo say last night on "Archer"?

Search: archer pam back tattoo

Why: It was only on the screen for a sec.

Answer: It's the 3rd verse of Lord Byron’s 1815 poem “The Destruction of Sennacherib”!

For the Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast,
And breathed in the face of the foe as he passed:
And the eyes of the sleepers waxed deadly and chill,
And their hearts but once heaved, and for ever grew still!

It makes sense because Pam used her winnings from underground MMA fights to pay for college.

Source: Chan Chan sent me this info from Warming Glow

The More You Know: Also on that blog post - which I am about to read about 100 more of (or half of 1 because it's 5:15 on Friday and I am hungover):

Ditzy receptionist Cheryl was revealed to be an heiress to the fictional Tunt railroad fortune, and Archer became enthralled by her pet ocelot, Babou (“You guys, look at his little spots! Look at his tufted ears!”). Incidentally, Babou was also the name of the ocelot that Salvador Dalì kept as a pet.

Why aren't you watching this show?

Omg, what if "Cat Party" shows up?

How can I tell a raven from a crow?

Search: crow raven

Why: Yesterday, a giant black bird bigger than Maddie came and sat by the edge of the pool. We thought it might try to snatch up Chloe and carry her away. I have heard people call those huge birds both crows and ravens, but I'm pretty sure they are 2 different animals.

Answer: Here's a secret: the raven is a type of crow! It is in the genus corvus, anyway, and that word kind of sounds like "crow," and the birds in that genus are all small and mostly black... but corvus actually means "raven" in Latin, so make of that what you will. So there are "true crows" like the American Crow, and then there are ravens like the Common Raven. Distinguishing features!

Crow

• Smaller - about the size of a pigeon
• Call is higher pitched and more nasal, like this
• Tail is fan-shaped
• Fly with deliberate flapping wingbeats
  
• Tend to live near cities, buildings, and human developments

Raven

• Bigger - about the size of a hawk
• Call is lower pitched and hoarse, kind of croaky, like this
• Tail is wedge-shaped
• Alternates between flapping and soaring like a hawk
  
• Prefer to live in wilder areas - or near parks or open spaces
  

Source: Shades of Night, Bird Guide

The More You Know: Nevermore!

What animal is on the side of the U-Haul truck from Illinois?

Search: illinois uhaul

Why: I drove past one this morning, but I didn't have time to read the blurb. It looked like a gummy worm Loch Ness monster.

Answer: The Tully Monster!

“llinois once lay near the equator on the supercontinent of Pangea and was home to unique creatures. How did the strip mining of Illinois’ coal deposits reveal the secret of the Tully Monster?”

And this website has kindly already done my work for me:

The Tully Monster, discovered in 1958 in the Mazon Creek Lagerstaaten and named Tullimonstrum gregarium in 1966, is the state fossil of Illinois. Many have been found, but so far the Tully Monster is unique to Illinois. It dates back about 300 million years. We do not know what phylum it fits into. Its shape recalls the Anomalocaris, but that disappeared 100 million years earlier. Of course, with fossilization of soft-bodied organisms being so rare, perhaps it is a descendant of Anomalocaris!

Source: Science Notes

The More You Know: The anomalocaris ("abnormal shrimp") was a unsettlingly gigantic sea-dwelling predator that I'm really glad isn't around anymore, although I bet it would have been delicious.

Who does Dave Franco play in "Superbad"?

Search: dave franco; greg the soccer player

Why: Joel at 2Pz posted this picture of James Franco (yesterday, pre-Oscars) with his cats Sammy and Zelda,

and then I got to reading about how James and his brothers all love kitties, and then I read this sentence,

With his memorable roles in Superbad and a regular gig on TV's Scrubs, Dave been making a name for himself in Hollywood, with very little help from his superstar older brother.

which I thought was weird because I've seen that movie like 14 times in 2011 alone.

Answer: "Greg the Soccer Player"! Is that one of the guys at the party?

Owait, no:

Source: IMDb, Youtube

The More You Know: And he's also in this (and so is some lengthy discussion about their cat Toby [and so are some real kitties]).

Acting With James Franco Episode 1: "Sense Memory" from James Franco

Incidentally, did you see this last week on SNL? Because it was funny:

What is Oreo's Law?

Search: oreos law

Why: Rachel doesn't like Sarah McLachlan because ASPCA doesn't support Oreo's Law, or something.

Answer: It's a 2009 bill introduced by New York State legislators to prevent animals from being killed by shelters when rescue groups offer a lifesaving alternative!

Look at this bummer:

In New York City, a one-year old dog named Oreo was intentionally thrown off a sixth floor Brooklyn roof top by her abuser. Oreo sustained two broken legs and a fractured rib. Oreo also appears to have been beaten in the past—several of the neighbors in the building where Oreo lived reported hearing the sounds of the dog being hit. The ASPCA nursed her back to health and arrested the perpetrator. They also dubbed her the “miracle dog.”



The miracle was short-lived. According to the ASPCA, when Oreo recovered from her injuries, she started to show aggression. After a series of temperament tests, the ASPCA made the decision to kill her. The New York Times reported the story the day before Oreo’s scheduled execution. A sanctuary in New York offered to take Oreo, explaining that they had experience rehabilitating dogs deemed aggressive and offering her lifetime care, including plenty of socialization and walks if the rehabilitation was not successful.

They were ignored, hung up on and lied to. And the ASPCA chose to kill the dog instead. That afternoon, Oreo laid dead, the victim not of her former abuser, but of an overdose of poison from a bottle marked “Fatal-Plus,” at the hands of a shelter bureaucrat.

I mean, I hate picking up dog poop as much as the next girl who never got a dog because she didn't want to pick up dog poop but then accidentally ended up with a dog anyway, but jeez, I would still never throw her off the roof. She would never forgive me. But this apparently happened again just a few weeks later with a dog named Max.

But there are opponents to the law for various reasons, including that Oreo's Law wouldn't have saved Oreo anyway. I don't know.

Source: Yes on Oreo's Law

The More You Know: Some sad New York Statewide survey results:

• 72% of rescue groups reported being denied animals
• 71% of rescue groups reported that shelters turned around and killed those animals
• 43% of rescue groups that have expressed concerns about inhumane conditions they witnessed in NY shelters have been the subject of retaliation
• 52% of rescue groups who witnessed cruelty and neglect at the shelter did not express or report concerns because they were afraid they would no longer be allowed to rescue

So quit buying your expensive, ugly, and annoying purebred pets from breeders, assholes.

Where can I get a Sharktopus doll?

Search: sharktopus doll; sharktopus toy; sharktopus stuffed animal; sharktopus plush; sharktopus beanie

Why: Some guy in my office has one sitting on the wall of his cube. When I asked where he got it, he said, "On, uh, one of the DVD talk websites...?" Instead of asking for more deets, I turned pea-green with envy and sulked away, feeling very less than.

Answer: I see lots! Like this one by Natalie Metzger:

This one by Suzannah Ashley:

This one by Giffy:

And this one by kamidake on deviantart.

There is even a Sharktopus pinata:

But I can't find the perfect one he has. It's a beautiful monotone putty color, just like a real octopus relaxing on a rock. It srsly looks like an actual Beanie Baby and would look very nice sitting betwixt the 2 octopus Beanie Babies I already have (Inky and Wiggly) and my shark (Crunch).

Source: none :( :( :(

The More You Know: Full disclosure: my Beanie Babies are all on top of a bookcase in my old bedroom at my parents' house, but Sadie and Ben play with them fairly often. Imagine what they could learn from this majestic and formidable hybrid! My birthday is in, like, 3 weeks, everyone. Don't make me go back and talk to that guy empty-handed.

UPDATE 1/21!! I have it on good authority that these things are available at Sundance, which is going on right now. If you can find a way...

UPDATE 2/14!! Here is a picture of The One, which Bryan Reesman got in a promo pack from Anchor Bay. He is calling it a Sharktoplush. Behold:

Is there a real movie called "Croctopus"?

Search: croctopus

Why: On "Modern Family" this week, Phil and Claire went to go see it in 3D. In 3D!!!!

Answer: No :( not yet...

BUT! Here are some very nice artistic imaginings of how one might look:

Source: nothing, Google Images

The More You Know: A croctopus also lives in the underwater levels of Donkey Kong Country. It is completely invincible, just like the real croctopus, but it really just looks like a regular octopus: