Dog Food Mix
It's so easy to make your own dog food at home: just add meat, veggies and water...
Sojo's European-Style Dog Food Mix $29.95/10 lb bag
Doggy Sunglasses
Of COURSE your hound wants to look like Jackie O. Are you kidding me? Besides, like the store says, "dogs need protection from the sun too."
Darling Doggles Sunglasses $29.99
Pheromone Plug-In
This is like a Glade Plug-In air freshener, only it releases pheramones all over the house. Oh boy!
Comfort Zone with D.A.P. $13.09
Anklets
For When you want your dog to look like a hooker...
Fabulous Flower Anklets $19.99
Keg Neck Ornament
Actual copy from the product page: “Your dog doesn't have to be a Saint Bernard to wear it. Any dog would look good in this beautiful keg.”
Oak Keg $138.00
Case of Dog Wine
Well, it's not really dog wine. It's actually..."dog gravy." It just looks like dog wine. Does this make sense to anyone?
Pino Leasheo $179
Yogurt Drops
'Cuz you know how dogs crave yogurt...
Vitakraft Yogurt Drops $2.99
Dog Panties
More actual copy from the product page: "Very, very cute for your female dog to wear under her dresses!"
I am not even going to comment on this.
Sweetie Panties $32.99
Friday, February 22, 2008
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Why Pets Get Fat
A new study suggests that between 20 and 40 percent of US dogs are obese. That's right along the the lines of the 32 percent of US adults who are obese. Is there a correlation between fat people and fat pets? It seems that way. Obesity rates among people and dogs seem to be going in tandem. But is it obesity in people causing obesity in dogs? Are dogs more likely to be fat if they live with overweight people?
On one hand, you might imagine that folks who go running or engage in other outdoor activities might take their dogs with them while sedentary people have sedentary dogs. On the other hand, wouldn't fat people be less likely to feed leftovers to the dog?
Yep! According to this1998 study published in the Journal of Nutrition, overweight dogs are three times as likely to have overweight owners than are normal dogs. The study also reports that dogs are more likely to get fat if their owners talk to them, watch them eat and share a bed with them. Those same owners are less likely to take their pet for a walk. In short, the study concludes, dogs are more likely to be fat if their owners treat them like a fellow human rather than a dog.
There's more. According to this French study surveying 616 dogs, dogs are more likely to be obese if their owners are retired, over the age of 40 or live in a house as opposed to an apartment. Sounds to me like we can blame dog obesity on the aging population and growing rates of home ownership. Oh, for the good old days when everyone was starving and living in apartments...
On one hand, you might imagine that folks who go running or engage in other outdoor activities might take their dogs with them while sedentary people have sedentary dogs. On the other hand, wouldn't fat people be less likely to feed leftovers to the dog?
Yep! According to this1998 study published in the Journal of Nutrition, overweight dogs are three times as likely to have overweight owners than are normal dogs. The study also reports that dogs are more likely to get fat if their owners talk to them, watch them eat and share a bed with them. Those same owners are less likely to take their pet for a walk. In short, the study concludes, dogs are more likely to be fat if their owners treat them like a fellow human rather than a dog.
There's more. According to this French study surveying 616 dogs, dogs are more likely to be obese if their owners are retired, over the age of 40 or live in a house as opposed to an apartment. Sounds to me like we can blame dog obesity on the aging population and growing rates of home ownership. Oh, for the good old days when everyone was starving and living in apartments...
Friday, February 15, 2008
BIG DAY for Dog News
So many great dog stories today.
First, the Times of London reports that a California women has paid $150k to have her dead dog, a Pit Bull named booger, created through cloning. Apparently, she's been saving a piece of his ear in the freezer. This will be the world's first commercial dog cloning. The South Korean team doing the cloning has previously cloned an Afghan Hound.
Paris Hilton is under investigation by the LA Dept. of Animals Services after she bragged on live TV about owning 17 dogs. She reportedly told Ellen DeGeneres that the dog mansion in her garden, is an exact replica of her own home, complete with a chandelier. Sounds a little nicer than this stuff: Dog Houses & Kennels from PetSmart.com
. According to this article, it's illegal to own more than three dogs in an LA home.
A black lab named Dor saved an old man who had fallen into a watery irrigation ditch. Dor was out for a walk with his owner when he smelled the injured man and led his owner to the body. This is Dor's second effort to save a life. According to the IOL, the Tokyo pooch previously led his owner to a middle-aged man who was about to commit suicide by dumping off a bridge.
A UK girl and her pal got drunk and decided to dig up the freshly buried body of a dog in the yard of the home the girl and her family had just been evicted from. Their tool of choice? A couple of spoons. She was arrested for burglary and sentenced to community service. The newspaper did not report what kind of dog it was.
First, the Times of London reports that a California women has paid $150k to have her dead dog, a Pit Bull named booger, created through cloning. Apparently, she's been saving a piece of his ear in the freezer. This will be the world's first commercial dog cloning. The South Korean team doing the cloning has previously cloned an Afghan Hound.
Paris Hilton is under investigation by the LA Dept. of Animals Services after she bragged on live TV about owning 17 dogs. She reportedly told Ellen DeGeneres that the dog mansion in her garden, is an exact replica of her own home, complete with a chandelier. Sounds a little nicer than this stuff: Dog Houses & Kennels from PetSmart.com
A black lab named Dor saved an old man who had fallen into a watery irrigation ditch. Dor was out for a walk with his owner when he smelled the injured man and led his owner to the body. This is Dor's second effort to save a life. According to the IOL, the Tokyo pooch previously led his owner to a middle-aged man who was about to commit suicide by dumping off a bridge.
A UK girl and her pal got drunk and decided to dig up the freshly buried body of a dog in the yard of the home the girl and her family had just been evicted from. Their tool of choice? A couple of spoons. She was arrested for burglary and sentenced to community service. The newspaper did not report what kind of dog it was.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
A Beagle Wins Westminster? Prepare for Recession...
Yesterday, a ridiculously cute beagled named Uno won Westminster. He was the first Beagle to take the "Best in Show" prize in the competition's 117-year history. And who doesn't love a Beagle? You know, Snoopy and all that. It's fun when the neighborhood yard dog leaves the powedered poodles and pomeranians in the dust.
But I had a hunch. Could a Joe-sixpack breed winning Westminster mean we've got a recession coming for sure? I took a look at the Westminster record.
Sure enough, there's a strong correlation (although with a slight lag) between a Westminster winner's breed and economic prosperity. Take a look at late 1920s. Things looked great, unless you noticed that the '28 show was taken by a fox terrier and '29 by a rough-coated collie—a farm dog for chrissake. The depression years? Three more fox terriers! Things looked grim indeed until 1933, when a classy Airdale came along and rescued the economy.
Fast forward to the stagflation 70s—launched by a pair of utilitarian Springer Spaniels. And then we have the everybody-money-crazy Reagan years, preceded by the '82 win of a Pekingese named St Aubrey Dragonora of Elsdo, and the '83 victory of a majestically high-maintenance Afghan Hound.
The '87 stock market crash? A German Shepherd's victory earlier in the year all but sealed the market's fate, while the 2000 bursting of the dot-com bubble was foreshadowed when a Springer Spaniel named Shameless won the show. And of course, we can thank an exotic Kerry Blue Terrier for stock market boom we all enjoyed until last year's slow-down (brought on by, yep, another Spaniel).
My guess is that much like fashion designers, dog show judges unconsciously factor in the economic zeitgeist when picking a winner. Sure, it's fun when Fido wins the show. But it's murder on the economy. Next year, I'm rooting for the pomeranian.
But I had a hunch. Could a Joe-sixpack breed winning Westminster mean we've got a recession coming for sure? I took a look at the Westminster record.
Sure enough, there's a strong correlation (although with a slight lag) between a Westminster winner's breed and economic prosperity. Take a look at late 1920s. Things looked great, unless you noticed that the '28 show was taken by a fox terrier and '29 by a rough-coated collie—a farm dog for chrissake. The depression years? Three more fox terriers! Things looked grim indeed until 1933, when a classy Airdale came along and rescued the economy.
Fast forward to the stagflation 70s—launched by a pair of utilitarian Springer Spaniels. And then we have the everybody-money-crazy Reagan years, preceded by the '82 win of a Pekingese named St Aubrey Dragonora of Elsdo, and the '83 victory of a majestically high-maintenance Afghan Hound.
The '87 stock market crash? A German Shepherd's victory earlier in the year all but sealed the market's fate, while the 2000 bursting of the dot-com bubble was foreshadowed when a Springer Spaniel named Shameless won the show. And of course, we can thank an exotic Kerry Blue Terrier for stock market boom we all enjoyed until last year's slow-down (brought on by, yep, another Spaniel).
My guess is that much like fashion designers, dog show judges unconsciously factor in the economic zeitgeist when picking a winner. Sure, it's fun when Fido wins the show. But it's murder on the economy. Next year, I'm rooting for the pomeranian.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
All About Death
Spent some time this afternoon reviewing the latest reports on death. The main take-aways:
Hardly anyone is dying these days Only 800 people died for every 100,000 people living. For folks under thirty, only 100 people died per 100,000 alive. If you died recently, you were unlucky indeed.
If you get married, get it right Across all age groups, divorced people are at least twice as likely to die as those who are never married or married, widowed folks have it even worse.
Death abhors the bucolic The death rate is highest in Washington DC and Louisiana, lowest in Vermont, Washington, Oregon, Montana and Maine. Which, come to think of it, roughly correlates with my perception of how nice these places are to live.
You can pretty much predict your cause of death today Of the 2.4 million deaths, heart attack, cancer and stroke accounted for half.
Watch out for ulcers! More people were killed by an ulcer (3600) than in a war (28) a fire (2800) or drowning (2100).
Suicide: not like the movies Nearly twice as many folks died from suicide (32,000) as from homicide (17,000). How do people kill themselves? Hardly anyone jumps (670) or slits their wrists (570). Half use a gun and 7,300 choose self-suffocation. Only 5,800 took pills—and all this time I thought that was the preferred method. I’m not surprised that suicide rates are highest in Alaska. It’s all about sunshine.
Murder: a lot like the movies 51 people were murdered when someone deliberately ran them over with a car. 103 were poisoned, 163 were hit, 664 were suffocated, 676 were pushed to their death, 365 were drowned, 2080 were stabbed, 177 killed in a fire. Everyone else was shot by a gun. Are guns the weapon of choice because they’re so impersonal? I bet its much easier to kill from a distance.
Accidents: the odds According to the National Safety Council 1 out of 34 people die in an accident. But its not the things we fear that are most likely to kill us. One in 5,500 persons will die in a plane crash—about the same number that will die of exposure to cold. 1 in 130,000 will die of a dog bite, 1 in 630,000 of a snake bite. But here’s the bad news: 1 in 84 will die in a traffic accident, 1 in 200 will die in fall, most comonly while trippping on a flat surface and 1 in 180 will die of poisoning.
Pop stardom is deadly Interesting stat from another blog. Rock and pop stars are more than twice as likely as the rest of the population to die an early death, and within a few years of becoming famous, while classical musicians live longer.
Hardly anyone is dying these days Only 800 people died for every 100,000 people living. For folks under thirty, only 100 people died per 100,000 alive. If you died recently, you were unlucky indeed.
If you get married, get it right Across all age groups, divorced people are at least twice as likely to die as those who are never married or married, widowed folks have it even worse.
Death abhors the bucolic The death rate is highest in Washington DC and Louisiana, lowest in Vermont, Washington, Oregon, Montana and Maine. Which, come to think of it, roughly correlates with my perception of how nice these places are to live.
You can pretty much predict your cause of death today Of the 2.4 million deaths, heart attack, cancer and stroke accounted for half.
Watch out for ulcers! More people were killed by an ulcer (3600) than in a war (28) a fire (2800) or drowning (2100).
Suicide: not like the movies Nearly twice as many folks died from suicide (32,000) as from homicide (17,000). How do people kill themselves? Hardly anyone jumps (670) or slits their wrists (570). Half use a gun and 7,300 choose self-suffocation. Only 5,800 took pills—and all this time I thought that was the preferred method. I’m not surprised that suicide rates are highest in Alaska. It’s all about sunshine.
Murder: a lot like the movies 51 people were murdered when someone deliberately ran them over with a car. 103 were poisoned, 163 were hit, 664 were suffocated, 676 were pushed to their death, 365 were drowned, 2080 were stabbed, 177 killed in a fire. Everyone else was shot by a gun. Are guns the weapon of choice because they’re so impersonal? I bet its much easier to kill from a distance.
Accidents: the odds According to the National Safety Council 1 out of 34 people die in an accident. But its not the things we fear that are most likely to kill us. One in 5,500 persons will die in a plane crash—about the same number that will die of exposure to cold. 1 in 130,000 will die of a dog bite, 1 in 630,000 of a snake bite. But here’s the bad news: 1 in 84 will die in a traffic accident, 1 in 200 will die in fall, most comonly while trippping on a flat surface and 1 in 180 will die of poisoning.
Pop stardom is deadly Interesting stat from another blog. Rock and pop stars are more than twice as likely as the rest of the population to die an early death, and within a few years of becoming famous, while classical musicians live longer.
Monday, February 11, 2008
Four Ways to Hack Valentine's Day
Valentine’s Day doesn’t have to be a relationship land mine or dutiful display of forced romance. Instead, think of the day as a useful tool for revealing the truth. Here’s how:
- Ask Yourself: Do I give a crap? If you’re honest, you may discover that even while Valentine’s Day is important to your partner, you have no real desire to make an effort. If you’re going through the motions purely to avoid a dreary argument, you’re probably with the wrong person. You deserve to be with someone whose happiness is important to you. And they deserve to be with someone who really cares.
Be Super Sincere: If you’re so crazy about this person you met five weeks ago that you want to do something lunatic like sending five dozen roses and a mariachi band, go ahead. If your heart says, “I like spending time with you for now but I don’t really see a future for us,” say it over dinner. You can only hide the truth for so long. Whatever’s ultimately going to happen in the relationship, a little honesty on Valentine’s Day will get you there faster.
Express Yourself Okay, so you have a strange way of expressing affection—you like making her jewelry out of obscurely branded beer bottle caps, or you spend hours making him a sparkly ironic kitten collage. Yes, your partner might think it’s stupid and weird. Maybe your partner is right! But if you’re potentially going to be with someone for years, it had better someone who appreciates the way you say I Love You. Why not find out today?
Review If you did your best to create a perfect evening and your sweetie is still disappointed, something’s wrong. Maybe you two just aren’t communicating so well. Maybe this person has expectations beyond what you can possibly fulfill. Or maybe this is a person who simply can’t be pleased. Either way, it’s time for a talk. Maybe next year, you can spend the big day with someone who appreciates the awesomeness of your weirdly awesome self.
Thursday, February 7, 2008
5 Ways to be Insanely Productive
I haven’t yet made a billion dollars or traveled to Mars, but I can say that I almost always accomplish everything I set out to do in any given 24 hour period. It is possible, when necessary, to get an insane amount of work done in one long stretch—and enjoy yourself while you’re at it. Here’s what works me:
1. SPACE OUT Unless you’re doing long division, there’s little chance that the quality of your work will improve by trying to think really, really hard. Entrepreneurs say they get very few good ideas by “brain storming,” --they arrive at solutions while driving, or taking a shower. Personally, I’ve never been able to find the correct answer, the right word or the perfect chord by rummaging in the forefront of my consciousness. If it was there, I’d already have it.
Yes, the answer’s in your mind somewhere, but you have to make room for it to enter your consciousness. That means eliminating some of the thoughts that are already crowding your mind. So space out. Focus on your breathing. Feel the energy inside your hands and feet. Study the wood grain pattern on the table top. Do anything but think! The answer will drift in like a leaf on a lake.
2. EAT LIKE A CAVEMAN Michael Pollan famously said, Eat food, not too much, mostly plants. But he probably didn’t have a zillion things to do. When I’ve got a busy schedule, it’s protein and vegetables, protein and vegetables, protein and vegetables. This is great food for your brain and prevents the energy dips that come with eating carbs.
I like eggs and salad for breakfast; fish and salad for lunch. Coffee’s fine in moderate amounts; add a few beans or fruit to the plate and pour lots of oil on your salad so you don’t get hungry. Protein bars make good snacks. Then, for last few hours of the day when you're out of energy--it’s time for candy! This isn’t a diet for life, it’s a diet for a day when you have to get a lot of crap done.
3. RELAX Anxious people spend half their mental energy on useless worrying. To make more efficient use of your mind, make a list of everything you have to do, then do the first task first, refusing to let your thoughts wander back to the list. (Tell your mind it can worry for two long, delicious minutes after the task is complete.) Never concern yourself with the outcome—it's out of your control, so what’s the point? Work at a gentle pace and give the task your full attention. When you finish, give yourself a pat on the back, go back to the list, and repeat. Your pace will be amazingly fast, and the finished product will be high quality.
4. ELIMINATE DISTRACTIONS Turn off the blackberry, shut down your browser, unplug the TV and the radio and the radio, close the door and send the boss out for a three martini lunch. Multi tasking only works if you have two brains. For everyone else, doing two things at once means you waste half your time switching between tasks, and don’t do an especially good job of either. Read about it here and here and here.
5. TAKE TEN PERCENT OF YOUR TIME TO DO NOTHING Especially when you’re stressed and in a hurry, your brain needs a break on a regular basis. Every 60 minutes, take six minutes to go for a walk, stretch and have a drink of water. No mulling over your work while you walk—that’s cheating. When break time’s over, you’ll be amazed to find the hard problem has an obvious solution, the monumental task is suddenly easy peasy, and you’re not half as tired as you thought.
Lifehacker: 88 Tech Tricks to Turbocharge Your Day
1. SPACE OUT Unless you’re doing long division, there’s little chance that the quality of your work will improve by trying to think really, really hard. Entrepreneurs say they get very few good ideas by “brain storming,” --they arrive at solutions while driving, or taking a shower. Personally, I’ve never been able to find the correct answer, the right word or the perfect chord by rummaging in the forefront of my consciousness. If it was there, I’d already have it.
Yes, the answer’s in your mind somewhere, but you have to make room for it to enter your consciousness. That means eliminating some of the thoughts that are already crowding your mind. So space out. Focus on your breathing. Feel the energy inside your hands and feet. Study the wood grain pattern on the table top. Do anything but think! The answer will drift in like a leaf on a lake.
2. EAT LIKE A CAVEMAN Michael Pollan famously said, Eat food, not too much, mostly plants. But he probably didn’t have a zillion things to do. When I’ve got a busy schedule, it’s protein and vegetables, protein and vegetables, protein and vegetables. This is great food for your brain and prevents the energy dips that come with eating carbs.
I like eggs and salad for breakfast; fish and salad for lunch. Coffee’s fine in moderate amounts; add a few beans or fruit to the plate and pour lots of oil on your salad so you don’t get hungry. Protein bars make good snacks. Then, for last few hours of the day when you're out of energy--it’s time for candy! This isn’t a diet for life, it’s a diet for a day when you have to get a lot of crap done.
3. RELAX Anxious people spend half their mental energy on useless worrying. To make more efficient use of your mind, make a list of everything you have to do, then do the first task first, refusing to let your thoughts wander back to the list. (Tell your mind it can worry for two long, delicious minutes after the task is complete.) Never concern yourself with the outcome—it's out of your control, so what’s the point? Work at a gentle pace and give the task your full attention. When you finish, give yourself a pat on the back, go back to the list, and repeat. Your pace will be amazingly fast, and the finished product will be high quality.
4. ELIMINATE DISTRACTIONS Turn off the blackberry, shut down your browser, unplug the TV and the radio and the radio, close the door and send the boss out for a three martini lunch. Multi tasking only works if you have two brains. For everyone else, doing two things at once means you waste half your time switching between tasks, and don’t do an especially good job of either. Read about it here and here and here.
5. TAKE TEN PERCENT OF YOUR TIME TO DO NOTHING Especially when you’re stressed and in a hurry, your brain needs a break on a regular basis. Every 60 minutes, take six minutes to go for a walk, stretch and have a drink of water. No mulling over your work while you walk—that’s cheating. When break time’s over, you’ll be amazed to find the hard problem has an obvious solution, the monumental task is suddenly easy peasy, and you’re not half as tired as you thought.
Lifehacker: 88 Tech Tricks to Turbocharge Your Day
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Plumbers most likely to pay off their loans
Guess which occupation is most likely to pay off a loan? The best bets, it turns out, are:
According to to Erics Credit Community, a site that tracks the performance of loans made through peer-to-peer lending network Prosper.com, all these occupations have a flawless record in paying back loans on Prosper.
Here are some other top-ranking occupations, and the percent that are late on their Prosper.com loans:
And here's the occupations that rank at the bottom, also with the percentage late on their Prosper.com loans:
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- Plumbers
- Clergy
- Pharmacists
- Pilots
- Scientists.
According to to Erics Credit Community, a site that tracks the performance of loans made through peer-to-peer lending network Prosper.com, all these occupations have a flawless record in paying back loans on Prosper.
Here are some other top-ranking occupations, and the percent that are late on their Prosper.com loans:
- Attorney 2.4%
- Professor 2.6%
- Computer Programmer 3.5%
- Architect 3.5%
- Military officer 4.2%
And here's the occupations that rank at the bottom, also with the percentage late on their Prosper.com loans:
- Car dealer 25%
- Dentist 20%
- Truck driver 17.7%
- Homemaker 15.9%
- Laborer 14.7%
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