Regretsy: His & Her Potholders

You'll have to click on the image to read Helen from Regretsy's (not the sellers!!) description of the item. Made me laugh out loud. At the very least, Robert will appreciate the humor...

More Funk Siblings!!!

Yay!! Two more Snow White families e-mailed Robert yesterday about their puppies!

This is Schatzi, formerly Dopey and our 2nd pick if we didn't snag the Funk. She definitely seems the most like Garfunkel, personality-wise:

"Her fur is wiry and coarse around her neck, shoulders and down her back like a little mullet. She is a sweet, goofy dog that loves to give kisses [check]. She's not the most graceful dog but extremely loving [check]. Schatzi is quiet protective of the family [check]. She is a little reactive on leash at times but off leash does great playing w/ any dog [check]. She is approx. 60 lbs and 23 1/2 inches tall at the shoulder. She plays constantly w/ our other rescue dog and our boys. She loves to de-stuff any toy looking for the squeaker and to tear the fuzz of tennis balls [check and check]."


And this is Cooper (né Sleepy):


"He has a bit of a beard, a very smooth, soft coat that is thicker across his shoulders and down his back, like a cape. The goofball part is right on. His pack includes dogs, cats, guinea pigs and tortoises. We live in Santa Cruz and walk to the beach each morning. We went to the reunion and met Mama who has a lot of Chow in her. Cooper has a couple of Chow-like black spots on his tongue."

The Chow thing is good to know - we were told by PPR that they thought the mom had some Chow in her and Garfunkel's DNA test came back with a small percentage of Chow. However, because he has no purple on his tongue - and the DNA test seemed sort of bogus anyway - we weren't 100% convinced the Funk has any Chow in him at all. But it sounds like Cooper's (human) mom can confirm that Snow White does indeed have some Chow in her and Garfunkel's tail is awfully curly...

I'm just glad Garfunkel doesn't have a beard or a predominantly wiry coat. The hair on the back of his hind legs is a bit wiry but that's it; overall, he's pretty darn sleek and smooth. Yay!!! I know I'd love him just as much if he were my bearded dog... but he's not and by comparison I think he's the most handsome of the bunch. I'm just sayin'. I don't know where Garfunkel's ears come from, though - both Cooper and Schatzi have sort of horizontal-lying ears while Jasper's ears are pretty perky. No one has wonderfully wonky ears like the Funk. :o)

Garfunkel's Brother

When we adopted Garfunkel, all of the foster families exchanged e-mail addresses in order to keep in touch, arrange play dates, etc. Well, of course, nobody in our group did much of anything; one family e-mailed the results of their MARS panel but aside from that we haven't heard a peep from anyone. So, imagine my surprise when Robert forwarded an e-mail to me earlier this afternoon from one of the Funk's litter mates! Jasper (who was Happy) is "a goofball, and extremely cuddly... [with] an almost waterproof wiry coat, a scruffy beard, and huge brown eyes. He's not a large dog either; his back is about level with [one's] knees." Check him out!



Robert sees more similarities between Garfunkel and Jasper than I do... Though, it's hard to say anything with any degree of certainty because the angle of the 'now' photo is so odd. It's hard to tell how big Jasper really is or what the contours of his face really look like. But the Funk definitely doesn't have a wiry coat (thank goodness!! Sorry, Blackards.) and Jasper's ears aren't really anything like the Funk's. (Garfunkel's ears are sooo much better. They have personality!) The hair around Jasper's muzzle is much, much longer than Garfunkel's, too. But the shape of their mouth looks fairly similar; I can definitely see Garfunkel in Jasper's bottom jaw (and teeth!). And while I wouldn't classify Garfunkel as "extremely" cuddly, he DOES like to snuggle every so often. He also tolerates our unsolicited hugs and kisses extremely well. :o) I'm just bumfuzzled at the physical diversity in the litter - crazy! I would love to see what some of the other puppies look like so I hope Jasper's family's e-mail spurs others to share. We're definitley going to.

American Quiz

A friend of mine just forwarded this quiz to me and while I usually don't take the kinds of quizzes that are in forwards (sorry!), this one intrigued me. I actually just commented to Robert the other day that those who are required to take citizenship tests know a LOT more about the United States than many people who were born and raised here. I consider myself an intelligent person and I did well in school but I am (shamefully) not well-versed in American politics. Unfortunately, it doesn't generally hold my interest so while I know sort of the bare bones of current political hot topics, I don't know a whole lot else. So, I was surprised that I actually knew as many answers as I did on this quiz! :o) (And it wasn't all blind guessing, either, so there!) Sad... but true. I still didn't technically pass - I got 20/30 - but I did WAAAAAAAAAAAAY better than I thought I would at the outset.

Check it out: http://games.toast.net/independence/

A Dog's Birthday

Yes, I am one of those sad ladies that makes their pet a birthday cake. Did you really expect anything else of me? I didn't get him a hat or a sweater or throw him a party so I do have some boundaries. But everybody deserves a special birthday treat, be they 2- or 4-legged! So, I hopped on the 'net last night to find a few dog-friendly cake recipes and settled on this one (though I substituted apple for carrot). It was a snap to whip up!

Here's the batter:



And the finished product:


I iced it with a little plain yogurt:



Garfunkel thought it was delicious! He licked and sniffed it tentatively for the first few seconds but then decided it was a good treat and devoured it whole:



He liked it so much we caved and gave him seconds...

Don't worry - he got to work off all that cake with a nice long birthday walk in the drizzle. Garfunkel's been a little stir crazy with all the rain so Robert was a good man and braved the elements to give the Funk an extra-special birthday. :o)

You Say It's Funk's Birthday...

HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY, GARFUNKEL!!!

You are an awesome dog. Hugs and belly rubs galore today!!!!

Puppy Pictures!

Robert bought me a fancy shmancy new camera (a Nikon CoolPix P90) for my birthday and, while I haven't yet read the encyclopedia that came with it, I have been fiddling around with it for the past few days. I'd been bemoaning my missing camera battery while also expressing a longing for an SLR camera for ages so I guess Robert finally got tired of hearing me whine and bought something to appease me. (In fairness to myself, I wasn't actually whining that I wanted HIM to buy me a camera... Just that I wanted to save up some money to buy an old refurbished SLR camera someday. Do I know anything about proper photography? No. But I want to be able to take cute action shots and close-ups of Garfunkel. I'm weird! This is why I didn't want to spend thousands of dollars on a new or even relatively new SLR camera. A funkomatic refurbished one would've worked fine. In my mind, anyway. Most likely, however, had I actually gone that route, I would've been disappointed with the results and had no recourse. Then Robert would still have to listen to me complain. But at least it'd be a different complaint, right? Silver lining, people!) Anyway, my point is that I have a new camera and I took some photos. They're not great because, as I said, I know nothing about taking good photos OR my new camera but here they are just the same.




This is Garfunkel as seen from overhead. Like my puppy slippers? Me, too.




Garfunkel's canine always hangs out over his lip when he lies down. It's so darn cute!!! Love.

Oh, and notice his super awesome birthday collar. Nice, eh? Since this month is home to a big birthday for both him and me, I bought him a celebratory collar to wear all month. Whee!



Ugh. This would've been cute if it wasn't so damn annoying! I had Monday off and Robert worked from home in the afternoon. (He had some morning meetings in Pleasanton and rather than drive all the way to Menlo Park for 5 or 6 hours he worked from home.) Garfunkel is a-OK with hanging out with me all day because that's our routine. He knows that I might take him somewhere fun but most likely I'll hang around the house when I'm home alone with him. So he's content to hang out in the arm chair or play a few rounds of Loofah Dog with me. But when Robert is home, Garfunkel can't stand it. He desperately wants Robert - and only Robert - to take him somewhere or play with him or something. Unfortunately for Garfunkel, Robert had a phone meeting on Monday afternoon and spent 2 hours shut up in the office. Therefore, the Funk's extreme excitement at Robert's early return quickly turned into unmitigated panic and despair at being able to hear Robert but no longer see him. He wouldn't play with me. He wouldn't eat. He wouldn't chew on a bully stick. I went to my parents' house and picked Quigley up in the hope that a playmate would bring the Funk out of his funk. No dice. Garfunkel not only refused to play with Quigley, he also insisted on sitting or pacing outside the office door while mewling. I shouted and gesticulated wildly at him for so long (to no avail) that Garfunkel wound up being afraid of me for some reason and kept hiding under the kitchen table every time I'd take a step toward him. Once Robert finally emerged from his cocoon, Garfunkel wouldn't let him out of his sight. He sat on Robert's feet at the table. He followed Robert into the bathroom. And he insisted on sitting right next to Robert the entire time Robert worked in the bedroom while Quigley and I played in the living room. Absolutely ridiculous! Garfunkel is the WORST host. Really.


Who wouldn't want to play with this adorable little guy?! C'mon!




Look at that little sleepy tongue. Hee hee!



I felt so bad for Quig. He so wanted to play with Garfunkel but was rebuffed at every attempt. He played with me in between naps on the couch but it just wasn't the same. :o( And he's such a love bug! It was fun having a little guy that could hang out on the couch. We cuddled and played all afternoon. Suck it, Garfunkel!

TV Tidbits 84 - More Bear Grylls & Tim's Take is Back

Hmm... I'm not sure how excited I am at the prospect of Bear's new show. While I do love me some Bear, it's also the super extreme (and, for me anyway, totally impossible) situations that make Man vs. Wild fun. Watching Bear try to escape from a sinking car? Certainly useful. Ever since Baywatch pointed out the dangers of sinking vessels, I've been only too keenly aware of the possibility of slowly drowning to death with no Hoff in sight. (I really need to buy myself one of those doohikees that helps bust through your window...) But it's oddly less entertaining watching someone try and escape from a situation I might actually have to participate in myself one day... Adds a smidge more drama and discomfort to the endeavor. Plus, what are the odds Bear will ever have to show us how to escape an apartment fire or a shark attack while naked?! Slim-to-none. That really makes the show less fun.

[From EW.com] Man vs. Wild host Bear Grylls will headline a second

series for Discovery, the network has announced: the six-episode Worst

Case Scenario, debuting this spring. According to the press release,

Grylls will rely solely on the advice and instruction of experts to show

viewers that with the proper knowledge (and ability not to panic),

anyone can survive the potentially life-threatening situations they may

encounter in “everyday life.” These scenarios include:

• escaping a high-rise apartment fire

• fending off a shark attack

• escaping out of a sinking car

• getting yourself out of a frozen lake

• handling a car when its brakes give out while driving down a hill

• preventing a mountain lion attack

• falling down a flight of stairs — unharmed

----- ----- ----- ----- -----

Also from EW.com, here's a fairly candid Q&A with Tim Gunn on Project Runway's drab season 6:

Tim Gunn: Before we start this interview, I have to tell you that I know you all didn’t like season 6. Was it L.A. or the absence of Michael and Nina or…?
EW: Both, along with less-than-stellar designers and boring challenges. Though, the truth is, everyone was going to be hypercritical because the show was being reinvented on a new network and in a new city.
Gunn: Yes, I know that’s how people feel. People are sometimes reticent to share their thoughts with me but you can tell. It’s been awful to disappoint people.

EW: Let’s be honest. Did you hate last season?
Gunn: Well, we all need to be truth tellers about it. My response is so filled with selfish dimensions – having to leave my own apartment and camp out in a strange place for 5 weeks, piling into a van to go to Mood which would take up to an hour one way. I have so many feelings about season 6. This has nothing to do with the individuals Carol Hannah, Althea, or Irina, but I was disappointed that our three finalists were three women in their 20s.

EW: To me, that felt like Lifetime was pushing the show to choose someone in its demographic.
Gunn: Had Lifetime really had a hand in it, Gordana would have been among them. She’s more the Lifetime demographic-she’s a woman in her early 40s. I would have been eager to see her at Bryant Park too.

EW: If you could go back, what would you have done differently?
Gunn: Upon reflection I think it was not advisable to have that season be in L.A. And I missed Nina and Michael. I engage with the designers in anticipation of what Nina and Michael will say and I know them well. It’s hard when it’s Heidi and 3 guest designers.

EW: Yeah, the judges last season seemed random and perhaps not always in their right minds, like when they sent Ra’mon home.
Gunn: It’s a big responsibility. I don’t know how Heidi, Nina, and Michael can judge the work of the designers based on one run-through of that show. But that’s how it’s done. I didn’t do a blog for season 6 but I’m doing it for season 7. No one hears me talk about the final outcome. In terms of Ra’mon, guess who bought that losing piece at auction? I have it and I know how truly ridiculous it is. It’s two pieces of neoprene. There isn’t even a stich anywhere. It’s held together with pins.

EW: I also didn’t love the contestants. Irina was a decent enough designer, but she was so unlikable. Of course, that may have been in the editing…
Gunn: The editing certainly shows less than what I see. It’s very considerate of them and doesn’t manipulate things to create a situation that isn’t. That’s why there wasn’t a lot of effervescence in season 6. If we really had a creative hand in stirring things up we certainly could have. But new network, new producers. At some point last season I became aware – with a startling amount of both anxiety and adrenaline – that I was the only one present who knew what happened when. No one else knew anything about the rhythm and cadence of the work room, trips to Mode, anything.

EW: There wasn’t even one producer brought over?
Gunn: Trust that there was a lot of seduction going on but the gauntlet was thrown.

EW: Anything scandalous happen this season that you can share?
Gunn: A few of the designers throw me under the bus and say “I knew I shouldn’t have listened to Tim Gunn.” During judging I am always standing in the back of the room not saying anything. But Heidi said, “I wish I had a red phone so I could call Tim Gunn and ask him.” And I said “I wish I had a red phone so I could call you!”

EW: Do you ever want to tip off the judges to backstage drama during the runway show?
Gunn: No, I don’t want the designers to think that I leak things. There are times when Heidi really wants to know what’s going on behind the scenes. I always say, “I’m sorry, Heidi. Church and state.”

EW: Let’s talk about this season’s contestants. Ping is definitely one of the more eccentric contestants and her first outfit was crazy. Was guest judge Nicole Richie on crack when she said it was one of her favorites?
Gunn: I love and adore you for saying that. That took her out of the bottom. I have to tell you about the auditions and Ping. She’s a really innovative designer but the bulk of what we saw was hand knits. I told her there’s no time for hand-knitting on the show. I asked how she would translate her vision and she gave a very good response. But the truth is, those items would have been much more believable had they been colored yarns.

EW: Do you cringe when a contestant, like Anna Marie Lynett, talks so pretentiously about being an “artist”?
Gunn: Yes. Yes, I do. I wasn’t at auditions last season but I was for season 7 and that was one of my roles in the auditions – to beat back at the producers when they’re seduced by personality. My role was to make certain who moved forward had the fashion credentials.

EW: I really hope Anthony has credentials because he is such a love of a character. He’s this season’s Chris March.
Gunn: He really is who he is. We didn’t make him up.

EW: When will you start shooting season 8?
Gunn: I don’t know! I’m desperate to know. I keep thinking surely Heidi knows.

EW: Do you think the show will ever go back to Los Angeles?
Gunn: The plan has been to alternate – one year in New York, one year in Los Angeles. I don’t know that we’ll ever go back to LA. though. Even though season 6 is behind us, people still have a good deal of venom about it.

EW: Any chance season 8 will go to London or somewhere equally fabulous?
Gunn: That would be nice. But even though it’s a new network and it’s season 7, we still don’t have money.

And just like the man mentioned, Tim's Take really IS back! I'm definitely not as into PR these days as I was when it first started, but I do enjoy reading Tim's thoughts as I munch on my ham sandwich during lunch. :o)

Stream Netflix on Your Wii!

Robert and I were JUST talking about the pros and cons of a Roku player not 3 days ago! My Netflix account has been on hold since November because, with all the TV I don't want to watch, we never had time to actually watch the movies I was paying for. But! Then Robert sent me this:

NEW YORK (AP) -- It's a triple crown for Netflix. Beginning in the spring, the Wii will become the last of the three current video game consoles to get instant viewing of Netflix movies and TV shows over the Internet.

Wii owners who have a broadband connection and a Netflix subscription that costs at least $9 a month will be able to watch those programs with no extra charge.

Netflix coming soon to the Nintendo Wii.

Nintendo Co. and Netflix Inc., which wouldn't give an exact launch date for the service, were set to announce the deal on Wednesday.

To watch flicks through the gaming system, Wii users will need a special "instant-streaming" disc that Netflix will mail out in the spring. They will then be able to use the Wii's motion controller to navigate through their Netflix account and pick what they want to watch. This setup is similar to the way Sony Corp.'s PlayStation 3 currently streams Netflix programs.

Owners of Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360 can also stream Netflix, but the service is only available to Xbox Live "Gold" members, who pay $50 a year mainly to play games online.

The Wii is a great catch for Netflix because it gives it access to the living rooms of millions of potential new subscribers. It is easily the most popular gaming console in the U.S. with 26 million sold in the country through December, according to Nintendo.

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings has long said his company's goal is to offer movie streaming on as many devices as possible, including all three gaming consoles. Letting subscribers watch movies over the Internet is an increasingly important service for Netflix, which is based in Los Gatos, Calif., even though the company says it expects to keep renting DVDs for another couple of decades.

Part of the reason for that is because it'll take some time for movies to become available for streaming. The company has about 17,000 movies and TV shows available for Internet watching, compared with more than 100,000 DVD titles it rents out.

In another sign of its commitment to streaming, Netflix said last week it will delay sending out Warner Bros.' latest movies by nearly a month so it can get rights to show its subscribers more movies over the Internet.

In addition to the three gaming systems, Netflix streaming is already available on devices such as the Roku digital video player, along with some Blu-ray players and Internet-connected TV sets. It's also available on computers.

But consoles represent an important entry point into millions of homes because so many people already own them. And offering service through the systems will likely also prompt existing Netflix subscribers who haven't tried streaming over the Internet to do so.

Hastings called the Nintendo deal a "big step forward" in advancing its streaming service.

Reggie Fils-Aime, president of Nintendo of America, said the company's first priority is always gaming, but it also wants to "continue to surprise our customers" by offering other activities.

Granted, I won't be able to stream the more obscure titles I like to rent but still - NICE! And handy.

Waffles & Burnt Penis

Yes, you read that correctly. And no, it's not a spin-off of Chicken & Waffles. I found two equally interesting but completely unrelated bits of information that I wanted to share and figured that title was as good as any. Short and sweet, right?

First up is an article from yesterday's EW.com PopWatch about Channing Tatum. Now, I do not particularly care for the Tatum; he's too beefy and blank to be a Hot Man and I've never actually seen any of the movies he's been in. But this particular article included the words "burnt penis" and "strippers" in the title so I had take a look! C'mon! You can read the full article here but this is the excerpt detailing the penile mishap:

I’ve heard about some serious but ultimately nonfatal movie injuries in my day, including Sylvester Stallone having to spend nine days in a hospital after filming his Rocky IV fight with Dolph Lundgren because the pericardial sac around his heart was swelling. This one tops that.

While shooting the epic battle film The Eagle of the Ninth in the Scottish Highlands last October, Channing Tatum burnt his penis. Why is this making news now? Because he recounts his ordeal in a current Details cover story titled Channing Tatum is Proud of His Package. Playing a soldier of Rome’s Ninth Legion, he had to wade in freezing water in a wetsuit. “The only way to keep warm was by pouring a mix of boiling water and river water down your suit,” he says. “We were finally done shooting for the day, and one of the crew guys asks if I want to warm up before I go. I’m like, Nah, I’m good. And then I thought, Why not? Thing is, he’d forgotten to dilute the kettle water. So he poured scalding water down my suit. And I was trying to pull the suit away from my body to somehow get away from the boiling water, and the more I pulled the suit away, the lower the water went. It just went straight down and pretty much burned the skin off the head of my d—.”



The closest hospital was an hour away. During the trip, the pain was unbearable. “I said to the driver, who was ex-special-forces Marines, ‘You might have to knock me out, because I don’t know if I can take the pain. Just grab something and hit me on the back of my head,’” he recalls. Morphine was administered at the hospital. “I had five guys looking at my shriveled, burned penis,” Tatum tells Details proudly. He also takes out his iPhone and shows the magazine’s writer pictures of his wounded member — which is now fully recovered.

I always enjoy me a candid man so while the story isn't enough to earn the Chan Man a spot on my Hot Men list, it does endear him to me just a smidgen more than before. Though, if I ever do wind up seeing one of his movies, his burnt member will be on my mind...

[Just as an aside, the first thing Robert did when I told him this story last night was say "Wow, he really did have burnt dick on his hand." For some reason, we really enjoy the Deuce Bigalow canon and in the 2nd film, the best, best scene is this one (watch from 6:40 - 7:13 to get the joke)]:

The second item up for discussion is the Web site Wafflelizer. Have you ever wondered if you could waffle-ize a hamburger or a S'more? Me neither. But, apparently, there's a huge group of people out there that are oddly obsessed with all things waffle and this site is dedicated to answering the age-old question "Will it waffle?" Definitely worth a gander. Not only do they tell you if it will waffle but they provide detailed photos and recipes so that you, too, can waffle-ize it in your own home. What more could you ask for?!