Mirth Watch Thursday: Your Doggy Doppelganger

Do you have a doggy doppelgänger? Or maybe your dog has one?

I started thinking about doppelgängers the other day when one of my fave blogs, I Still Want More Puppies, posted a link to the "2013 Oscar Nominees and their Animal Doppelgängers". You should really check that link out (I think my fave is Tommy Lee Jones = Grumpy Cat, but there are other funny ones as well.)

Anyway, it reminded me of two things:

1) I once noticed that my friend's angel dog, Max, had a puppy pic that looked exactly like Ron Swanson (a hysterically gruff character on Parks and Rec, played by Nick Offerman). Am I right? Since Ron really likes meat, and Max did too, they were even somewhat of a personality match.

2) There is a web site that lets you find your doggy doppelgänger, appropriately called: Doggelganger. It's from Pedigree and the New Zealand SPCA. The tag line is: "Human to canine pairing software. Your best friend search starts here."

It's fun to play with. You're supposed to be able to add your own image either with your web cam or by loading a picture, but I couldn't get the web came image thing to work. So, I loaded a photo. (They say to load one with a neutral image - but, other than Ron Swanson above, most people smile when you point a camera at them.) Anyway, first I loaded my b&w "author photo" and I got a 62% accuracy match with this adorable 7 mo. old female Mastiff/Greyhound mix.
 

I also tried a color photo - but I guess I look a lot older in this picture since I got a 67% accuracy match with this sweet 12-yr-old Fox Terrier mix: (at least she's a fox....)

I do have the same worry wrinkles as both of these girls, so I think they did a pretty good job. It's a fun thing to play with - so hopefully the NZ SPCA is getting a lot of local folks on the site who then find their new best look alike friend!

I also looked up doppelgänger for this post - I thought it just meant "a look alike", but the actual definition from Miriam Webster is "a ghostly counterpart of a living person". Ghostly... hmm. So Tommy Lee Jones = ghostly Grumpy Cat I guess. 

Anyway, go have some fun and find your doggelganger.

Wordless Wednesday: DONE

If you've been following along, you know we started a so-called "6 week" backyard remodeling project waaaaaay back in mid-October. Finally, for today's almost-wordless Wednesday, the word of the day is DONE.

"I love my new sunning spot!"

Monday Mischief: Caught Cheating!

I was caught cheating this weekend - cheating on Rita, that is.

"Would you like to explain why you smell like Weimaraner?"

Mirth Watch Thursday: March of the Penguin

You've possibly seen this video before - after all, it's been around a while (and viewed by millions on YouTube), but it's one of my all-time favorite animal videos so I figured I'd share for those who haven't seen it. (I have one other "all-time fave" that I'm saving for another time.)

I give you, Lala, the shopping penguin:

A penguin with a penguin backpack, shopping for fish. I ask you, is that not the cutest thing? Thanks to Morgan Freeman, I know penguins like to march waddle long distances, but who knew they also like to shop? But how does it work... do they put his purchases on his bill? (Sorry, couldn't resist.)

I would love to have a penguin for a pet that I could send to the store to pick stuff up for me. "Lala, we're out of milk. And get yourself a can of sardines while you're there."

But, honestly, I'm such a worrywart, I'd probably never let him walk to the store by himself. I'd be afraid he'd get run over or penguin-napped. So instead I'd end up driving him there, and then I'd worry about him going in on his own, so I'd go in instead, and he'd just end up sitting in the car running the A/C full blast until I got back. It wouldn't be nearly as cute. I guess it's best that he ended up in a nice town in Japan and not at my house.  

Wordless Wednesday: Old-Fashioned Tweets

Rita's not much for Twitter. She prefers her tweets to be the old-fashioned variety. (She actually prefers to try to catch birds, but seeing them on TV is the next best thing...)

"How did that bird get in here?"

Monday Mischief: What a Tease

Hi all - Rita here. After Momma wrote about my special Valentine guy last week, well I have to admit I was a little worried when Valentine's came and went with no special package or card arriving.

I checked in with my special guy, Rocket, just to be sure we were still okay - after all, he did send me photos agreeing he'd be mine! But still... I thought maybe he was being fickle. Or maybe he was being a tease. Not to worry - it was just that his Daddy forgot to put the package in the mail. Phew!

Anyway, my package arrived on Friday:

"Look, it says right here it's for me!"

"Oooo, it smells so good in here!"

I got to unwrap stuff!

Oh man, there's ALL kinds of stuff in here!

He sent me a lock of his hair!

Isn't he the cutest?

Look at all the good stuff he sent! There's a bunny box filled with yummy treats, bunny straws, a treat wrapped up in a monkey bag, (monkeys and bunnies are kind of a thing with us...) a bunny-head Pez, a stuffy, a card, AND 2 boxes of chocolates for my Momma and Daddy. How thoughtful is that? As you can see in the picture, I look a little guilty - cuz all I sent him was a card. But Rocket says that's okay - the girls are supposed to get the gifts on Valentine's. I like the way he thinks.

All I sent was a card...

Can I have this one right now?

These chocolates here say they are for Daddy. Good luck, Daddy.

This is my favorite part - a very special, smoochy card, and a monkey-ear wearing doggy:

The doggy says "some bunny loves me." Hee!

Oh, wait, this is my other favorite part - a bully stick! (Pizzle! What every girl wants for Valentine's!)

It smells so good!

Hope you all had as good a Valentine's Day (or belated one) as I did. Happy Monday Mischief!

Mirth Watch Thursday: My Furry Valentine

Happy Valentine's Day everypawdy! I have to start by saying, I'm not a huge fan of V-Day. I mean, it's cute for the kids and the chocolate tie-in is good, but beyond that I can't get super excited about it. (I'm not much of a romantic in most of the traditional ways - and yes, I was single and bitter and I wore green on V-Day as a protest for many years.)

Now, having gotten that off my chest... Rita - as I mentioned the other day - has a long-distance boyfriend, Rocket, who she's exchanging V-day gifts/cards with. (I know that sounds silly, but you probably noticed, we're big on silly around here.) I wanted to take some special photos of Rita for her b.f., so here are some of the outtakes as well as the ones that went to Rocket:

We tried some "flower behind the ear" shots, but they didn't work...