Pez Power

 Back in 1927 before it occurred to anyone that smoking was harmful to a person's health a 30 year old Austrian man decided to invent an alternative and Pez was born. They were originally round and peppermint flavored,their name came from the German word for peppermint,pfefferminz,which he shortened to Pez by taking the first,middle and last letter. The brick shape came in the 1930s at which time an engineer was hired to develop a dispenser that would distribute one tablet at a time the Pez dispenser debuted at the Vienna Trade Fair in 1949. A US patent for the dispenser was obtained in 1952 and since that time over 1,500 different tops have adorned the dispensers and even though they are somewhat similar to both a pack of cigarettes and a lighter they never really caught on as a way to quit smoking. 

Doggit / Bundog

 If a person was either new to this planet or the English language there could be some confusion about both of these crossover animals. First Cadbury announced this years Cadbury Bunny who is a 4 year old English goldendoodle/therapy dog named Annie Rose. 

In an unrelated story an English couple received a letter threatening legal action if they didn't keep their aggressive dog inside and control its barking as it might spook the horses being ridden in the area.  The only problem was they don't have a dog,they have a rabbit named Joey who doesn't go outside and doesn't bark. 

Live Free?

 Does anyone else find it ironic that New Hampshire license plates embossed with "Live Free or Die" are made in their state prisons? With that question out of the way,how about the the man who wanted to escape his family 14 years ago and has been living in the Beijing Capital International Airport every since? Here's where it really gets weird...he left his home because he wanted to be able to smoke and drink without them nagging him. Apparently it's okay to smoke in the terminal but that doesn't answer how he is paying for his smoking and drinking or for that matter how he gets his monthly government allowance of 1000 yuan,around $200 US. For the record he isn't the person who has lived at an airport the longest that record belongs to a Turkish man who lived in one airport 27 years until it closed at which time he moved to another airport. 

You're Golden

 With the exception of Antarctica gold can be found on every continent as well as the core,oceans,plants and humans. A human body of 150 lbs contains about .2 milligrams of gold which is excreted through our skin and hair. Babies under 3 months old have even more gold that adults which is thought to be from breast feeding. Even though at present time there are no plans to mine our individual ores there is research to find if gold can be recovered from human waste...and that would come under the heading of a shit job. 

 

Fezco Update

 Remember the gaynine from a few days ago who ended up in a shelter due to ignorant owners? I have a feel good update on Fezco. First his new name is Oscar after Oscar Wilde who was also persecuted for being gay,his new owners are a gay couple who could relate to the bigotry and ignorance displayed by his former owners. The former owners also neglected to have him neutered and didn't give him heartworm medication leaving the new owners to take up the slack in his health care. His new home comes complete with a brother named Harry,a terrier/chihuahua mix. Oscar got a definite upgrade! 

Secret Signs

 Even preschool children recognize most big company logos since they are pretty much everywhere but how many know the subliminal details incorporated into the brands?  For instance Amazon when they updated their logo in 2000 they added the arrow which on closer examination points from the a to the z meaning they carry everything from a-z and the arrow itself is made to look somewhat like a smile to symbolize the ease of shopping on Amazon. 

Now for a look at an older business. In 1945 Baskin Robbins decided people should have a wider choice of ice cream flavors and chose to offer a flavor for everyday of the month (31). When they updated their logo in 2007 they had it designed to show the number 31 in pink between the letters B and R. 

Hey Bro?

 In case anyone was wondering I can be a bit on the obsessive side about studies not that it's a matter of second guessing experts but more like why they decided to study a particular thing and if their conclusions seem complete,which brings us to today's post. Again,anyone with pets wonders what they think and also how long they remember,in this case can dogs remember their litter mates. The experts say that it depends on how long they were kept together,with 16 weeks being the amount of time they need to form that lasting memory though they failed to determine how long the memory would last. As I said,I'm not trying to second guess experts but since dogs have superior scenting capabilities it seems like that could come into play too. As long as we're guessing what do you suppose the dogs say when they meet up with a sibling? Hey! Remember that time when we were inside of mom? 

Have a Drink on Me

 Even though it wasn't included on the monthly planner today is National Cocktail Day. The annual holiday was started in 2013 by a writer in a tribute to alcoholic drinks. The holiday celebrates the many drink combinations already in existence and encourages people to make their own signature drinks. If you find yourself enjoying National Cocktail Day you might want to mark your calendar for World Cocktail Day which is celebrated on May 13. The word "cocktail" is claimed to have first been seen in print in both 1803 and 1806 with a vast amount of guesses how the word came into being,so like with a cocktail choose your favorite. 

Doggie Dreams

 Anyone who has watched their pets dream have no doubt wondered what they were dreaming and finally a Harvard psychologist is offering an answer...sort of. The study showed most animals have similar sleep patterns to humans with light,deep and REM stages and though there is no way to prove it she thinks it is likely your pets dream of you since you occupy most of their waking hours which makes it important to make their time with you pleasant. They could also be dreaming of running with other dog friends when their paws twitch and they let out little dream barks. The only word of caution is to not wake them if they seem to be having a bad dream as they may lash out before they are fully awake.

Too Friendly?

Some of you may have heard about this poor dog on the news, for those of you who didn't I will share his story with you. Fezco,a 4-5 year old mixed breed was dropped off at a North Carolina animal shelter because his owners feared he was gay...yes you read that correctly. Talk about homophobic these folks most certainly have no room in their hearts for any pets and we can only hope they never have gay children. They "caught" the dog humping another male and without further ado labeled him a gaynine off to the shelter for that despicable creature! Of course there is such a thing as gay animals but that isn't usually the case when a dog mounts another dog,it is "normally" a dominance issue. I find these people to be a bigger problem that the poor dog who was only being a dog.  

Playhouse

 Dubbed as Disney World for adults,jungle gym for adults,club Tarzan and a really cool tree house the $1.2 million Lakeport,CA house comes with 3.7 treed  acres  and a swimming pool. The house is 3 bedroom with jungle themed decor including a rope to swing from room to room. The house was listed in October of 2020 and the price has been dropped from $1.9 million to the current asking price so why hasn't it sold? The price isn't out of line with the California market,maybe the potential buyers are too serious about life? No idea though the uniqueness might be short lived once a person moved in. 

Full of $hit?

 Normally being full of shit isn't a good thing,but now it can mean cash if your shit is worth a shit. A Biotech company has set up shop in Arizona and is paying from $25-$75 per poop sample. In order to get the good shit they have some strict guidelines: 18-50 years of age,have regular bowel movements,average weight,don't smoke,are not pregnant,no history of gastrointestinal disease,no history of alcohol or drug abuse and able to give samples 3-4 times per week. If you qualify you can earn up to $1,500 a month for spare shit. There are also collection programs in Massachusetts and California. So get your shit together people! 

They're Back!

 Five days ago was the first Florida post in quite awhile which is odd since there is usually a steady stream of weird from that state. It got me wondering if the weirdness goes dormant over the winter months when the snowbirds flock to the warmer climates or if they simply take time off to regroup. Not to worry,they seem to be back now in full force. A 41 year old man called 911 to request an officer to test his drugs. He explained that he didn't get high from the meth like he usually did and thought the man in the bar who sold him the drugs had sold him fake drugs and didn't want him to get by with it or sell to anyone else. The police were happy to oblige and when the drugs tested to be meth they cuffed and stuffed him. He was charged with possession of meth and possession of drug paraphernalia. He was released on March 11 after posting $7,000 bail. The police took to social media offering to test anyone's drugs who thought they might not be authentic. 

 

What's That Smell?

 Some smells are internationally recognized,coffee,bread,mowed grass and popcorn to name a few,so if you smell any of those smells but can't locate the source it becomes a mystery as to where that smell is coming from. For example take popcorn,you smell it but you're nowhere near a theater but instead standing by a bearcat/binturong enclosure,you ask the helpful docent what you are smelling and they reply bearcat urine. Their urine contains the same chemical compound (2-AP) that gives popcorn its mouth watering scent,though with the bearcats the purpose is to attract mates in the wild since they are mainly solitary animals. Kind of makes a person wonder why more bodily wastes don't have pleasant scents.