Animals on Parade... on t-shirts!

Y'know, I'm semi-directionless on where to take this blog, but I think in order to cut down on quarter or half-year delays on posts, I'm just going to go with whatever pops into my mind. At the moment, it's FASHION (oh yah).

yeah, kinda. Animal T-shirts anyways! Spring is almost here (ok, it's not but it was about 60 degrees Fahrenheit yesterday, and spring fever will linger in the air until we manage to see daylight stretching out past 6 p.m. [hee hee, look at my A.P. style influenced typing]). Well, whether or not spring is here, spring fashion is. meaning, t-shirts. I've got a predilection for t-shirts (and long-sleeved shirts, when those can be found as well) with some variety of animal on them. It is not something I consciously set out to collect, but rather have managed to. I'm not sure how many I've got, but acquired this water-colory beauty today:


Say what you will about OLD NAVY and the fact it's Old Navy, but they always have some nice surprises, and every other season or so they seem to come out with some unique(ish) t-shirt lines. This is perhaps my favorite I've seen, or at least in some time. And there were also a bunch of watercolor painted-looking striped v-necks as well, which, with the amount of striped tops I have no doubt competing with the number of animal shirts I have, are also right up my alley.

Then, the strangest thing was wandering past the children's section and happening to notice CHARLEY HARPER kids t-shirts being sold. At Old Navy. Weird! I guess since the poor fellow passed away in 2007, the eh, "rights" to his prints and paintings are now up for grabs or something because I have noticed some merchandise around and about that I had not previously seen available. But moreso strange to see because I've got a few "homemade" Charley Harper t-shirts, and also did make one my little nephew a couple years ago as well. Whatever it is, it's a strange sight to see, and I feel protective of the Harper creatures! Hoping it doesn't become some "trend."

Ok, I have no idea where the hell I'm going with this (other than here are some silly things I like and that sort of make me excited for the Spring) and don't feel like continuing, so I shall just post below, two of the Harper prints I had chosen for my own t-shirtin'. Perhaps something of more substance to come, eventually.

Watermelon Moon:


Vowlentine:



Addendum: Oh yeah. The fact that BOTH wfmu 2009 marathon t-shirts feature animals on them is going to make it even harder for my broke ass to decide in what direction to place my pledge dollars:




okay, so CLEARLY the "WF, MU" shirt is the must-have (still making me grin.)
Though I must also give a general props to the awesomeness that is the WFMU t-shirt and the few of those I have managed to acquire as well.

Fossa, Okapi

Staying very literal to the "name" of my blog, I offer up here a series (perhaps) of some truly uncanny animals.

Fossa



First we have the fossa, which is unique to Madagascar (which, like Australia, seems to be home to a whole slew of almost freakishly strange but cool creatures). I witnessed this animal for the first time last year at the Staten Island Zoo of all places. The fossa looks like a small wild cat, but moves around like a spider monkey. Thus its true "uncannyness" can perhaps only be witnessed in action, as in this video.
It was awhile ago now, but I remember being startled by the way they lept through the air and swung around from ropes. Let's give it up for the Fossa.


Okapi



Hiya, Okapi, I just heard of you today, but figured this was a good place to add you to my memory. These guys are native to Congo, and as one can see, has some very zebra-like stripes going on in the back, but they are a close relative of the giraffe (one of the most majestically weird creatures around, in my opinion, though I'll save those thoughts for another time). You can see the giraffe likeness in the big ears, little fuzzy horns, and body shape and movement as in this video. I don't think I've ever seen an okapi "in person", though you never know with how crazy these big zoos are these days. Nice to meet you Okapi, you half-zebra, half-giraffey feller.


Baby Okapi:

Happy February

oh hi there.

Rupert and the Frog Song (1984)




In honor of this blog almost being a year old, more to come soon (unless, it doesn't). And yes, it will be more than just seemingly cartoons.... probably.

let's try this again

Well there, I'm truly no natural "blogger" but my lapse at posting anything for oh, 4 months, was not in the gameplan. Otherwise I wouldn't have started the dern thing to begin with. As I have no readers, 'tis ok however!

I've got a couple things I'd like to post in the soon-time, and shall.

In the meantime, here's another mux that I'm still toying around with a bit. I already hate the link's name, but it's my lazy summer mix (especially lazy as August is over half-over and I'm just posting it now):

http://mylistlessummer.muxtape.com/



And how about this little fellow?

Wall-E is definitely my cinematic experience of the summer... and of a really long time in general, really. I haven't been seeing much lately, granted, but this is an exceptional little film. And Wall-E and Co. are ridiculously darling. For the first time in probably somewhere over 10 years, I actually crave merchandise. In fact I bought this little trinket:


It's a very wee pull-string, "dance and tap" Wall-E, for my desk...
... I don't have a desk >:(
Well, not at the moment really, anyways, but when I do manage to get THAT together he'll be on there. And other stuff. There will be a photo, eventually, maybe.

(And of course I am aware of the irony of desiring and purchasing little hunks-o-plastic memorabilia despite the film's "critique" of mindless consumer culture and human waste. But that's just SO obvious, so let's move on. I'll take my increasingly involved moving plastic figurines in the meantime.)

muxxy wuxxy

yay, more ways to semi-pointlessly waste time on the internets!

here's a mix I put together super-fast (for me, anyways)... I think it's ok, given the little thought that was put into it:

http://taratortuga.muxtape.com/

Animals on Parade

testing, testing

not sure yet what I am going to do with this blog (or if I really and actually need such a thing), but hopefully it will be some amalgam of music, film, creatures, photography, food, and other such... eh, marvels. (?)

it will be all about keeping it vaguely impersonal and vaguely "productive".

rigid standards for Ye Here Blogger. alright!

until then...