I don't know if this is just adorable, or weird, or even remotely interesting. I just find my Monday-ravaged mind relaxed upon the sight of this cat eating from chopsticks:
Friend of WTN Kevin Cobb says there is no dog video better than this. Considering he is the one who introduced us here to Live Puppy Cam and made a Shiba Inu tribute video, we'll take his word on it.
This is the kind of video that makes me want to hide my eyes until it's over (not to mention, wonder about the person who's taping a little baby chick vs. a hungry monitor lizard). Fortunately, there's a happy ending.
An Asian small-clawed otter named Dua is tickling the ivories at the Monterey Bay Aquarium (actually, it's more like occasionally slamming his paws on the keys).
I like how she plays to the Bebop beat on the synthesizer. Her music has a '60s coffeehouse vibe going on.
Alfred Hitchcock eat your heart out. In this video, a psychotic bird dive-bombs people who walk by his San Francisco perch, viciously pecking at people's heads.
All he needs is a few friends and we're living The Birds.
Spokane helps duck mommy get her ducklings to river
Duck mothers must be the stupidest mothers in the animal kingdom. We rarely go a week without reports of ducks trapped in a storm drain here in South Florida (I can't resist shouting out "DUCKS IN A STORM DRAIN! DUCKS IN A STORM DRAIN!" in the newsroom every time we hear a report) and it seems that the ducks in Washington aren't much brighter.
Still, this is a pretty neat tale of how Spokane's people helped prevent the senseless deaths of some baby ducks by helping "Amelia Duckheart" out a bit.
Latest in anti-squirrel bird feeder technology: Vaseline
This guy got sick of squirrels raiding his bird feeder, so he greased the line up with some vaseline and recorded the hilarious results. I'm quite fond of the defeated look on the squirrel's face as he dangles, unsure what the heck to do.
I first wrote about the "Play Him Off, Keyboard Cat" videos last month, wondering if it could soon rival Rock Roll'd as a web phenomenon.
Well, Keyboard Cat is officially in the mainstream--he made CNN. Not only that, but someone has put together the best "Play Him Off, Keyboard Cat" video yet.
First, the news report about the late, great Fatso the Cat.
This will be a tough "Play Him Off, Keyboard Cat" video to top.
You know the saying "Bull in a china shop"? Well, apparently a bull also can create a mess in a grocery store.
A bull ran through the aisles of a supermarket in Ireland, causing general havoc.
My favorite part of the clip is when the butchers step out and see the bull. You almost expect the bull to turn around and demand, "What happened to my friends?"
I think this may just be funny to me because I have both a cat and a small child and could totally see this happening at my house. But watch it anyway.
Existential cat fails to catch bird. Asks, "what's the point?"
Watch as this cat questions its very own existence after its prey nonchalantly flies away and a group of people laugh at the creature's -- and life's, one would imagine -- annihilating absurdity.
Could there be another Rick Roll'd on the horizon?
Within the last two weeks, viral videos spliced with a clip of a keyboard-playing cat have started to appear. There's even a site dedicated to the "Play Him/Her Off Keyboard Cat."
Here are two clips featuring the ivory-tickling feline.
Sometimes, you have one of those days where you just need a video of an obscenely cute sleepy puppy in its water dish. This video is for those of you having one of those days.
Bobcat walks into Arizona bar, scratches two people
So a bobcat walks into a bar and the bartender says...
A rabid bobcat ran into a bar in Cottonwood, Arizona, chasing people around a pool table. The feline scratched two people and generally caused chaos in the bar.
There's no happy ending. Police ended up gunning down the bobcat. The Arizona Republic detailed the bobcat's bar visit here.
More idiots attempt to run the bulls in Spain. And the bulls fight back. It’s pandemonium as someone falls over in a packed tunnel, trapping a crowd just as the bulls arrive, flinging bodies around like rag dolls before charging into the street to inflict more mayhem.
Let’s do the math: Angry 1,000-pound aggressive beasts with horns plus dozens of writhing human bodies. Result: More than 60 injuries but, astonishingly, no deaths. Apart from the bulls later on, of course.
Humans like a good massage, why not cows? Some intrepid farmers decided that happy cows produce better milk. So they installed what look like car wash brushes to massage their bovine beauties.
I have no idea if their milk really is better, but they look like they're having a helluva time.
Thanks to my colleague Erika Pesantes for pointing me to the clip!
So there's a cat in Japan named Maru and he's apparently a popular feline on the YouTube. One of his videos has gotten more than 3 million hits.
What makes Maru so special? I don't know, but I found myself transfixed by his latest video. It involves Maru walking around with a paper bag on his head.
Shepherds must have some significant time on their hands. These guys, calling themselves the Baa-Studs (say it out loud quickly if you don't get it), wired a herd of sheep with LED lights to create some neat images and shapes.
It's pretty neat and a lonely shepherd could certainly do worse things in his spare time...
Cameraman gets bigger closeup of angry bull than he planned
So this guy’s in the arena in Pamplona, filming other clowns who infest the Spanish city every year to torment the bulls. He’s apparently been told the bull jumps over people when it rushes out of the tunnel. It seems someone lied. Score one for the bull. Yay!
Fish with transparent head filmed in watery depths
First, they found an alien squid. Now, it's a fish with a freaking see-through face. Its eyeballs are INSIDE its head and the things that look like eyes are its nostrils.
National Geographic, freaking us the heck out since 1888 and ensuring I will NEVER willingly enter the ocean waters.
Who you calling a dirty rat? If you think these guys are going mano a mano in some sort of rodent staring showdown, you’d be close. It’s two brothers having a standoff to determine dominance. You know, like two knuckleheads in a bar, but with rats. Apparently, they sometimes keep this up for five minutes straight.
And the deranged music? That’s Windowlicker, from the ever-wonderful Aphex Twin.
Mutant horse mercilessly taunted by school children
This poor beast. Not only is it freakishly small, but the children poke and prod it with their creepy little hands. What is this, Dr. Moreau's petting farm?
Kids say the darndest things: Kittens inspired by kittens
Kids are all the rage right now in viral videos. Last week, it was "David after dentist" and I predict this week's kid (and cat!) related viral video will be this one.
It's a creative (the description says weird) young girl making up her own story of kittens. Kittens and kids, what a combo!
Thanks to viral vid goddess Erica for passing this along.
Thirsty koala gets drink from Australian firefighter
A firefighter working that massive blaze in Victoria state that killed nearly 200 people took a break to help out this little koala bear and give it some much-needed water.
We usually don't plug the web sites for our competitors -- we're still fuming over Hey, Watch It! -- but this is just genius.
The folks at the Palm Beach Post are now streaming a Live Kitten Cam out of the Safe Harbor Animal Rescue & Clinic. Now you can watch kittens all day! And help some kitties find homes.
Brazil brings us this lovely tale of inter-species love. A cat and a rabbit court each other resulting in some strange looking kitten/bunnies (Kunnies? Buttens?).
Nature shows us yet again that true love trumps all boundaries. Well, OK, maybe not all boundaries, but some. And is it really love? I mean, we're talking about rabbits here. They're not exactly known for being particularly discerning when it comes to mating.
OK, maybe this tale isn't some sort of Romeo and Juliet metaphor, maybe it's just one of nature's freakshows. But I got a kick out of it.
Check out this story from the Orlando Sentinel: a two-legged puppy is getting adopted by a woman who already has a two-legged dog. He scoots, she says!
Cute Things Falling Asleep- The new Live Puppy Cam?
Within the last few days everyone from NBC's "Today Show" to Time Magazine has anointed the new "It" blog- Cute Things Falling Asleep.
The concept: the blog consists entirely of viral videos of cute things (kittens, babies, puppies, etc.) nodding off. Here's one of a chick falling asleep on a piece of bread.
News you can use: how to defend against a rhino attack
Thank God there are people out there who help us prepare for worst-case scenarios such as biological attacks, plunging into canals and, of course, rhinoceros attacks. Leave it to Japan to publish a how-to safety video on such a scenario. Bonus points for over-the-top dramatic soundtrack.
Here's the Reader's Digest version of how to stop a rampaging rhino: poke it with a stick.
Barney's final Christmas video from the White House
Barney, the White House dog, has a new holiday video out. Sharing screen time with Barney are Olympic gold medalists Michael Phelps and Nastia Liukin.
Also from the White House, I found out that during the 2008 Holiday season, they go through 22,000 holiday cookies, 250 coconut cakes and 700 gallons of eggnog. Yum.
This one is pretty self-explanatory. Some kittens try to run up a slide set against Dick Dale's timeless rock classic, "Misirlou" (the song from Pulp Fiction). Pretty darn adorable.
This poor, grotesquely obese border collie was left outside in Wisconsin and literally froze to the sidewalk. Fortunately, there's a happy ending for Jiffy, the 11-year-old porcine pooch.
It seems like only yesterday the Shiba Inu live puppy cam stole our hearts. Now, 8 weeks old, they are ready to venture out into the real world (and off line). Some of the puppies will be leaving this weekend.
To remember the precious time we've spent together, I compiled a few of my favorite moments over the past 8 weeks into a slide show. Please enjoy.
Farewell live puppy cam. Farewell.
Special thanks to musician Ben Sharkey for his song. Check him out at YouTube.com/BenSharkey
This thing is awesome freaky. Apparently shot by an underwater camera courtesy of Shell Oil (tm)(r)(c)(and all that stuff), it shows a bizarre new squid with freaking ELBOWS. Scientists apparently haven't even classified it yet (well, at least according to this 2001 BBC article).
I figure it's not much longer before the movie Leviathan is a reality. So say hello to our new underwater overlords.
Pretty much every cat video ever, in one handy clip
Faithful WTN viewer Stephanie sent this to me for us to post. It's called the "Best Cat Video You'll Ever See," and it's actually pretty entertaining. I laughed out loud at a couple of parts.
Of course, this doesn't mean we'll never again post a cat video. Au contraire. With the number of hits we've received from Live Puppy Cam, the real risk we run is posting too many animal clips.
Such a determined cat. Who knows what compels this feline to dive into a diet drink container and try to squeeze his tubbiness through. Does he make it? Can he turn that container into a vest/cumberbund?
Check out this cat as he chills on top of a running robotic vacuum cleaner. Pretty devious. What's the one place a vacuum cleaner can't vacuum? On top of itself. Yup.
This blog is quickly going to the dogs puppies. Just a little over a week ago, the Watch This Now blog introduced you to six adorable Shiba Inus puppies. The live puppy cam has now been viewed by over 6.2 million people.
Here is some information about them:
Q: Where are the puppies?
A: San Francisco
Q: How old are they?
They just turned 6 weeks old Tuesday, Nov. 18th.
Q: What are their names?
A: Girls: Autumn (Purple collar), 4 lbs 1.2 oz (all weights as of Nov. 18th)
Ayumi (Yellow collar), 3 lbs 14.6 oz
Amaya (Red collar), 4 lbs 0.2 oz
Boys: Aki (Green collar), 4 lbs 13.8 oz
Akoni (Black collar), 4 lbs 8.8 oz
Ando (Blue collar), 4 lbs 15.0 oz
Q: Are they for sale?
A: No, they are not for sale. They all have loving homes waiting for them.
Q. I'm addicted to live puppy video, is there any hope for me?
A: Probably not, but whatever you do, don't follow the PupDate Twitter feed. http://twitter.com/pupdate It's a total cuteness overload. Much like this blog post.
Check out a few stories about the puppies after the jump.
P.S. Just wanted to say thanks to everyone who shared our blog post about the live puppy cam. You guys helped give us some of our biggest numbers yet!
Live puppy cam makes "NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams"
The live puppy cam of a San Francisco family's five Shiba Inus has become an Internet sensation so says the "NBC Nightly News." To check out the cam, click here.
And here's Brian Williams weighing in on the cam. I think he's reading too much into why it is becoming so popular.
It's simple: People love puppies, especially puppies they don't have to clean up after.
UPDATE 2: Some of the puppies will be leaving the weekend of Dec 6-7th. For a farewell video, click HERE!
OK, I thought the hippo video I posted was the cutest thing ever. I take that back. Check out this LIVE video feed of Shiba Inu puppies. I'm going to be upset if this turns out to be some sort of viral marketing campaign for dog food.
One of my co-workers said: "I just want to watch this video all day."
To get the video to start, just hit the play symbol. Let the "awwwwws" begin.
The election is over. No more clips of Tina Fey as Sarah Palin. No more McCain-Obama dance-offs. No more of the "It's Raining McCain" ladies. No more Obama Girl.
We must go back to the classy content that has defined Watch This Now.
I'm not a big fan of cute animal videos, but I must admit I enjoy the "Ninja Cat" clip, which is probably the hottest viral video out there after Tina Fey's turn as Sarah Palin on "Saturday Night Live."
Wichita Eagle (and former Sun-Sentinel) reporter Roy Wenzl interviews YouTube sensations Oscar, Ginger, and Zooey on camera [click here to see the video].
Klusman is getting proposals from filmmakers interested in marketing more of his ideas. He and Wingard, who works in the cubicle next to Klusman's at Spirit Aerosystems, are getting proposals from cat-loving ladies worldwide.
"OMG will you marry me?" one wrote.
"Paul is the George Clooney of engineers," another wrote.
Others sent "extremely interesting" photographs of themselves, Klusman said.
OK, there's no other purpose to this than it being cute. And it's environmentally conscious. And you need to quit spending so much time in your cubicle and get out and see the world.
And I hate cat videos, but felt the need to post something cute after a long drought:
Not just another cute pet video! This video shows shows an interactive ad campaign coming soon to major airports.
According to Newsweek, the interactive ads will be installed in these cities: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago (O'Hare and Midway), Dallas-Ft. Worth, Denver, Detroit, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Antonio, San Francisco, San Jose, Seattle-Tacoma, and St. Louis. Nationwide rollout will happen later this year.
Life is like this sometimes. You try really, really hard to do something, only to have someone stand 20 feet away, laughing and videotaping the whole thing.
People can't get enough of Oscar, the featherless bird. Here's an excerpt from an article Robert Nolin wrote on the little lady last week:
Polly want a feather?
Actually a full coat of feathers would be more fitting for Oscar, the naked cockatoo that so resembles a grocery store chicken one would be tempted to baste it and pop it in the oven.
If it wasn't so darn unsightly.
The oversized bird's flesh is saggy and wrinkly and the color of a purple bruise. An Einstein-like halo of scraggly feathers adorns — to use the term lightly — its head.
"She's being categorized as the world's ugliest bird right now," says Cherie Wachter, marketing director for the Humane Society of Broward County, where Oscar has lived for 12 years. "She's actually been an Internet sensation."