a baby kangaroo

A baby kangaroo wearing shorts and looking cute.  What's not to like?  He looks as sad eyed as our idiot rabbit (but cuter).

toodle pip

doctor dolittle (1967) - richard fleischer

By Jove, this took me back!
I haven't seen Doctor Dolittle for donkeys years, and have probably only seen it twice in my whole life, but l was really surprised at how much of it l remembered.  Yes, of course it goes on for too long, the story is pretty much non existent  and some of the 'animals' (such as the fox) have to be seen to be believed, but it is still an enjoyable escape from everyday reality.
Based on the Hugh Lofting books, this stars Rex Harrison as the Doctor, and the mad Irish accented Anthony Newley as his pal Mathew Mugg.  Everybody knows the basic tale - thanks to Polynesia the parrot, he can talk (and walk and squawk) with the animals. Remember the Doctor's first name?  Of course you don't - it's John.
That's about it really, sure the film looks great, there's a bit of a love story, incarceration (twice), a shipwreck and a floating island,  The Great Pink Sea Snail and young Tommy Stubbins tagging along just to annoy me. But the plot is irrelevant, it's the animals and song performances that make it, even with the crappy ballads.
I nearly forgot - there's also a great cameo by Dear old Dickie (Richard Attenborough) himself, as circus owner Albert Blossom, which just about steals the show, but l can't find a YouTube clip.
As far as l'm concerned, you can take your Eddie Murphy remake and shove it where the sun don't shine, even if the original movie was a commercial failure.

As a side note, Portia Nelson, who plays the Doctor's sister, wrote the book called 'There's a Hole in my Sidewalk -  The Romance of Self-discovery' which contains the poem 'Autobiography in Five Short Chapters', often used by self help gurus, AA meetings, and motivational speakers (who probably saw the poster for it in 'Good Will Hunting'.

I
I walk down the street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I fall in. I am lost ... I am helpless. It isn't my fault. It takes me forever to find a way out.
II
I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I pretend I don't see it. I fall in again. I can't believe I am in the same place. But it isn't my fault. It still takes a long time to get out.
III
I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I see it is there. I still fall in ... it's a habit. My eyes are open. I know where I am. It is my fault. I get out immediately.
IV
I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I walk around it.
V
I walk down another street.

Another side note.
The Puddleby-on the Marsh scenes were shot at Castle Combe, as was War Horse (amongst others).  A place l'd like to visit when l eventually get down (like James Brown) to the Devon and Cornwall areas (even if it is in Wiltshire).

toodle pip

war horse (2011) - steven speilberg

If ever there was a film that can be broken down into two halfs, 'War Horse' is it.  I don't just mean for the peacetime / wartime parts, as that has been done on many occasions. What l am referring to is that the first half of the film really got on my nerves and annoyed me, as it was so over the top as far as a predictable story crammed with annoying over emotional characters could be, to the extent that the film was switched off for the day and nearly not restarted the following day.  The 'Devon' accents didn't help, as they made everyone sound stupid, and it was all too jolly, nice and clean, with the locals even coming to watch a field being ploughed ("Come on Joey - I know you can do it").  Throw in an evil landlord, a heroic past for the drunken father / farmer, and a race on the horse with the poshos in their car, and l was looking for a cat to kick to ease my frustrations (but we have non left).
The second half, once the army horse racing was finished with, was by no means perfect, but at least you started to get immersed and empathetic.  The horse was still the best actor, even if a few were used (such expressive eyes!), and the scenes of him running across the front and along the trenches were superbly done.  You felt more for the horse all the way through the film, and maybe it was a deliberate ploy by Steven Spielberg, but the other actors were (on the whole)  stereotypical caricatures, and undeserving of sympathy from the viewers.  The (human) stars for me were the French grandad (Niels Arestrup) and the German private Friedrich (Nicolos Bro) who loved the horses in his care.  Some beautiful scenery, colours and settings were highlighted, but even though the odd tear may have been shed (obviously by the FPO), there was a huge feeling of disappointment about the beginning, which the second half never quite made up for.
I still wouldn't mind seeing the stage play though.

toodle pip

giant eyeball found on beach

This is just the kind of thing you don't want to find floating next to you when you are out for a swim.  If anything is going to make you crap your pants while swimming (that doesn't involve a shark), it's turning around in the water and having this staring back at you.  The eyeball was washed up on a beach in Florida, and is assumed to be that of a Swordfish, that had been cut out and thrown away by fishermen.  Nice.

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realistic animal face t shirts

These hyper realistic dog, cat and pig t-shirts are amazingly life like and look kind of spooky.  There are plenty of them for sale on Amazon, such as this one, and l may have to invest in the pig one for Dazzer, my member of the filth in law (it's an ongoing joke).  I've got my eye on a possible rabbit one, which will freak out the FPO, and probably scare the shit out of Tubbs, our real idiot rabbit (not that he has any problem producing shit).

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jacks gone missing and the rabbits arse is clean

Well. there's a big mystery at the moment, as our cat Jack seems to have disappeared.  She is 22 and is on her last legs, deaf and half blind (it's an old photograph above), but she appears to have buggered off somewhere to die.  This took us by surprise as she has not gone out of the cat flap for about six months, and was her usual self (batty and wobbly) last night, but we can't find her anywhere in the house or around the garden.  The FPO has been out leafleting, but we don't hold out much in the way of success. I just hope it was quick.

On a related note, we spent ages cleaning the crap from the idiots rabbits arse last night, and even gave him a bath to clean him up.  He was chuntering away, clean as a whistle in the living room afterwards, but we're cutting his nails on Sunday (after the football).  That will please him.

toodle pip

the london zoo animal audit

The London Zoo have been doing an audit of their animals, which means that they have to be weighed and measured.  What a great job to have, and it has resulted in some cute animal photographs for all the family.  The Humboldt penguin getting measured (and then stroked) are my particular favourites.
Photos from The Guardian.

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nellie the otter stacking plastic bowls

It's clever AND cute! (and like me in the bath).

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a lord howe stick insect hatching

This video is the Lord Howe Stick Insect (Dryococelus Australis), which was thought to be extinct by 1930, but was discovered on  The Lord Howe Island group in 2001, and has been bred, notably at Melbourne Zoo, where the above video was taken.  That however, is not the only amazing thing about them.  The video goes on for a while, but it is worth the time viewing it, as the hatching of them is unbelievable.  How on Earth they manage to fit inside their shells before hatching beats me, and even after seeing it emerge, you still can't believe what you have seen.  They certainly can't have been comfortable, no matter how flexible they are.  Nature - it can be freaky.
More information is at Discovery magazine.

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how not to catch spiders

I don't know why l watch this sort of stuff, as it just freaks me out, but here are two failures when it comes to catching spiders. Bloody things - l hate them. toodle pip

a happy horse

A happy horse.  What's not to like?

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the trapped squirrel in germany

This cute little squirrel got his head stuck in a manhole cover in Isernhagen, Germany last week.  Policeman were alerted and worked to free him, but after trying to pull the squirrel out, and even removing the cover to do so, they were unable to do so.  Eventually they managed to use olive oil and push the squirrel's ears down before successfully freeing the obviously traumatized creature.  Unfortunately, after letting the squirrel go in a local garden, it was later found to be dead, probably due to the stress of it's ordeal.  Poor little bugger.  More about the rescue is here.

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animals versus man and drink

 The drivers viewpoint (possibly)

 The pissed off bear (possibly)

Talk about having a bad day driving.  A Norwegian driver was pottering along, minding his own business, when a elk (moose in America) came out in front of him.  Bad day at the office or what?  Luckily he managed to swerve and miss the moose, but he then crashed into a bear as he was swerving out of the way.  That is what you call wildlife on the road, non of your crappy rabbits and hedgehogs that we get.  Saying that, l did hit a deer a few years ago that ran out in front of me, barely 4 miles from where l live on a place called Longwood Bank, without it even giving me time to brake or swerve.  That is what you call living in the country brothers and sisters, but soft English style, it sure doesn't compete with Norway.   Moose and bears, that is hardcore.


On a similar note, the story reminds me of the moose (elk in Sweden) that got itself pissed on fermenting apples in a garden by Gothenburg and then stumbled and got stuck in a tree (below).  Pissed up animals stuck in trees - l'm living in the wrong country.

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a rather large crocodile

That, brothers and sisters, is what you call a crocodile.  Not like the namby pamby ones you normally see.

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x rayed fishes from the smithsonian

The Smithsonian has an exhibition travelling around showing fish that have been X Rayed, and it's pretty interesting stuff.  I wouldn't want to meet some of the creatures at the best of times, and they look even more disgusting when you can see their bones.  There's more photos here if you want to be grossed out.

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stranded humpback whale in sydney

Another sight l would liked to have seen (but without the eggs).  A humpback whale has been washed up in a swimming pool by the ocean outside Sydney, Australia.  The whale was apparently already dead, and was washed up during heavy storms.  It's certainly not a pleasant sight and l would rather the whale was alive and swimming freely, but if it is dead and there for viewing, it would be amazing to see it up close, as it's not exactly everyday that you get the opportunity.
If you do have interest in Whales, l would recommend 'Whale Nation' by Heathcote Williams.  An excellent poem/book about the hunting of the whales, the things they were used for, and their intelligence.  Once l get round to it, l'll dig it out of our garage and re-read it again (if l haven't died of old age first). 

toodle pip.

cat on a bike

There is no way on Gods green Earth that Jacko, our stupid, half blind, snaggly furred, deaf and stinking of piss cat would be able to do this.  I reckon Mowgli (our now dead cat in a box) might have done, as he was up for most things (Not in THAT way).

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morrissey with a cat on his head

Here's something you don't see everyday. Morrissey with a cat on his head (for PETA).

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tommy tucker the squirrel in life magazine

Back in the day (the 1940's), a young squirrel was taken in and cared for by Mrs Mark Bullis of Washington DC.  She named it Tommy Tucker and dressed it in miniature clothing (the crazy old bat).  Life magazine did a feature on it, and there are more photographs at their site here.  I know you shouldn't treat animals like that, but you have to admit he looks pretty cute asleep on his little chair.  I want to get one now.

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