… my xmas card for this year. View a previous year’s here. Merry X-Mas!

The Princess & The Frog has made quite an impact the past couple of weeks, debuting at #1 it’s opening weekend. Along with a Black President, America now has it’s first Black Princess, compliments of Disney. The film, which began production under the working title The Frog Princess, is an American fairy tale, Broadway-style musical set in the French Quarter of New Orleans. A prince named Naveen (Bruno Campos) from the land of Maldonia is transformed into a frog by the evil scheming voodoo magician Dr. Facilier (Keith David). The frog prince mistakes a girl named Tiana (Anika Noni Rose) for a princess and has her kiss him to break the spell. The kiss does not break the spell, but instead turns Tiana into a frog as well. Together, the two of them must reach the good voodoo priestess of the Bayou, Mama Odie (Jenifer Lewis), while befriending a trumpet-playing alligator and a hopelessly romantic firefly along the way. Sounds good so far, right? Well, all was good until folks took their little girls to see the movie & realized that the Prince was White. (Crickets)(Crickets)(Crickets)

Many feel as though this is not a big deal. I mean this IS 2009 borderline 2010, isn’t it? Aren’t we above matters & issues of race? No. This is not an issue where folks are anti interracial marriage, or dating for that matter. The issue lies with the images, or lack thereof, of African-Americans where entertainment & media is concerned. I grew up watching shows such as “Good Times”, “The Jeffersons”, “The Cosby Show”, “Family Matters”, “227″ & “Amen”,  just to name a few. And with those shows it was common place to see a Mom & Dad loving their family & one another as well. Today, those images are obsolete. Today we’re in the era of “Reality TV”, where we see one group of Black folks after another acting a Monkey Doodle Fool! The Decay of the structure of the Black family is celebrated & televised for folks viewing pleasure. And one from another race or ethnicity may think this IS an accurate depiction of authentic African-American culture. Not so. There are many of  “Us” who come from functional families- two parent or singular- who are keeping our families strong & intact! Which is why there is such discomfort in seeing this Princess- OUR first black Princess- vying for the affections of a non-black Prince. Two people meet & fall in love is the most beautiful thing. Let it be organic. Don’t send the subliminal message that we can only have healthy, long lasting relationships if we love folks who don’t look like us. Negative.

What do y’all think? Holla …

-”The BklynBandette”. Mr. Hollywood’s Co-Defendant.

Evil Twins On the Loose- Filling Out Forms Online!

Oftentimes during prospecting, I encounter liar-liar-pants-on-fire folks who deny that they requested information about working from home.  Who knows? They could have forgotten, or perhaps gone on a willy-nilly form-filling out binge on the internet while inebriated.

In any case, I’ve been having fun with these folks in denial about their internet habits.

I say,”Oh! You must have an evil twin filling out forms online.”

Most people laugh, some don’t.

Next.

Roadkill

Sea-to-Sky Highway upgrade bad news for wildlife.

The situation has been on the radar of John Buchanan for months. The long-time Squamish resident and wildlife researcher said he doesn’t understand how it was allowed to happen.

“I have to ask why [the transport ministry] was allowed to construct a highway there in the first place,” he said.

“As soon as you fragment frog habitat, it will be a death scene.

“It is clear to me that the environment just got tossed aside.

“I don’t know if a local extinction has happened here, but I am starting to lean toward that as a possibility.”

Frogs are not the only animals living — and dying — along the upgraded highway. Deer, bears, small mammals such as skunks, weasels, coyotes, raccoons and ducks live along it.

     To march straight to Putrajaya, it is not that easy. To step in to Sabah or Sarawak with thousands of people waving their hands and smiles showed everywhere, can you do it, Pakatan Rakyat?

     During inaugural convention meeting yesterday, the Pakatan Rakyat top leaders were seemed very pleased towards each other, nothing different with loving birds, hand to hand, they powered.

     Yesterday was a good day for them, but will this last for a period of time? or even ever lasting?

     Will them “Agree now, disagree later”? It’s still a question mark there. Maybe after months later, they again, being rounded by conflicts.

     As I said, is that easy to stand still on the Malaysians’ heart? especially the east Malaysians? What do you have? Money? I don’t think so, and “how” is still there.

     Ya, it is a long journey, not only for Pakatan Rakyat, it is also you and me, or even the Malaysians……

Rana Ridibunda

I have to admit, I’m getting a bit bored with this. I think next week’s Friday Frog will be the last.

I started with two and ended up with ten. It was just so easy to keep cutting and cutting, and it was the perfect project for using up scraps that I can’t bear to throw away. So, a few will end up under our tree, and the rest will be off to some special friends. The pattern for the bean bag frogs can be found here. They’re really simple and fun to do with kids.

I’ve been doing a lot of crafting around here lately. Hopefully all (or at least most) of the gifts still in progress will be done in time to get them under the tree.

Radish King
I have a hard green pear for lunch. It resembles your heart.

rollerfink
the story describes richie benaud’s face. how it has changed over the years. sunken in. how his eyes have evolved from tadpoles to frogs. eyes can be frogs, contends the story, and a recent photograph of richie benaud confirms the story’s assertion.

This has to be one of the strangest stories I have ever heard.  What the hell are frogs doing in Christmas trees?  I guess the more appropriate question is where are these trees coming from

Carolyn Kuckertz

CREATED: 12/17/2009 05:18:17 PM PST

Pacific Chorus frog found in Anchorage Christmas trees (Alaska Department of Fish and Game)

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game says Pacific Chorus frogs are being found in Christmas trees that were sold around Anchorage in the past couple of weeks.

Tammy Davis, Invasive Species Program Project Leader for ADF&G, says the amphibians are not native to Alaska.

“These ‘live ornaments’ may seem like a bonus purchase, but they are outside their native range.” said Davis.

Davis elaborates that “While we don’t suspect they will become invasive, a greater concern is the risk to our native amphibians if they are carrying pathogens of concern.”

At this time ADF&G is asking everyone to inspect their trees and nearby surroundings for frogs or toads with grey, brown, rust, black or green coloration.

What to do if you find one:

via State warns about non-native frogs in Christmas trees – KTVA.

Photos from late this summer.  I found this frog sitting inside an Asiatic Lily in my back yard.

NOTE: I included slightly higher res (1920 x 1200) versions of these photos here.  I just liked the detail.  Hopefully your browser can handle scaling them properly.

Other frog photos from a Spring visit to the Boston Museum of Science can be found here.

I didn’t know frogs screamed or growled. But on YouTube there are quite a few videos featuring frogs doing just that. Mostly it’s pacman frogs, of which I was also completely ignorant. The best one is this one, where the frog acts like an angry dog (who knows why embedding is disabled; people are weird). But anyway, the screaming frog here isn’t a pacman frog. I don’t know what it is, but it is definitely screaming.

Here we have “one pissed off pacman”:

Indeed. Finally we present the mysteriously titled “Deadly Mexican Staring Frog of Southern Sri Lanka”. This tiny critter is a little scary.

Look after wildlife: Check bonfires before they are lit for hibernating hedgehogs, toads and frogs.

ill take it down later, just trying this out

Man, every time I pick an “easy” project for a quick one-off,  it’s a bit of a hassle.

This little cutie is mainly based on the free, downloadable Halloween Toads pattern availalbe here.  He actually looks more like the version whipped up by another Ravelry user (itsybitsyspider) who introduced the adorable 12mm cat eyes AND provided a decent explanation of how she did the toes.  My addition to the pattern was  a set of front legs, which  my husband thought he needed.  Needed?  Maybe.  Adorable? Definitely.

I think there’s a bit of a typo in the original pattern, which calls for dc stitches in Round 5 of both head and body.  I thought surely it was a mistake, then okay, probably deliberate, and now that it’s done it certainly looks like a mistake (note the warty knobble between the eyes.)  As it’s a toad though, it’s not that much of a problem.

Anyway I had some problems working the pattern, partly because the instructions are sparse on detail, and partly because I was distracted by Season 1 of Lost (I’m a bit late to that party, but doing my best to catch up!)  And at this point, honestly, I think I’m amigurumi-d OUT.  I’ve got a few Christmas presents to finish (top secret ’til then), and next year I’m going to learn knitting and do some much put-off sewing projects.  So here’s to the last few weeks of crochet projects . . . and the next four seasons of Lost.  May I finish them both in good time.

Ribbit.

It’s almost Christmas time, and perhaps other special occasions are near for you and your loved ones, but either way, now is the time to look around for some wonderful gifts! There are so many art-covered things up for sale on my two online shops: LadybugStuff and The Blue Froggy. These are not just any shops, they are in fact very unique in that the first one features only ladybug art and the second shop mostly just blue frogs, (though other designs have crept in, hee,hee)! There are all kinds of designs for ladybug fans – from plain ladybugs to girly ones, to a baby one and more! There’s no end to what you can find at LadybugStuff so I highly recommend checking it out today And if you want to hop on over to The Blue Froggy, you’re sure to find some other neat items for sale.

As for products, the list keeps growing, but some of the most popular items are license plate frames, bumper stickers, calendars and t-shirts to name a few. And the product images are all zoomable so you can take a closer look at them before you buy. As well, they offer tote bags, framed art, hoodies, boxer shorts, posters, journals, and much more, so why not give it a try. And if you’re like me, and abhor going to crowded malls and stores this time of year, you’ll appreciate the fact that you never have to leave the comfort of your home! But order soon so you can get it in time for your event or the holidays! And thanks again for supporting me and my family this time of year! Please send me a message if you have any special design requests for either shop, or if you just want to say Hi!

Merry Christmas and God Bless,

~Roxy~

I spent most of Sunday wandering around the Vancouver Aquarium. I was a little bit worried — I find zoos really depressing and I thought the aquarium might suffer from the same fate. Alas, it was beautifully set up, really educational and I was totally hooked, even though it was snowing outside (the dolphins and otters and company did not seem to mind). So many fish. So many frogs. So many jellyfish! (and sloths and birds and belugas too)

Definitely worth a visit if you ever end up round these parts.

With the summer we can sit and watch with wonderful antics of the sedge frogs in the pond…….

The Bazaar at the Central Chesterfield Library was a fun time.  This was the first bazaar the library has hosted. It was a benefit for the  Chesterfield Center for the Arts Foundation and there were 40+ vendors scattered around the well appointed facility.  I made many rice bags with the 1895 children-powered handcrank Singer and enjoyed talking with everyone. 

This was the last event of the year for Dan Springs Collection – watch for us next Spring at South of the James Market!  As other events are scheduled, I’ll post them on the calendar tab of this blog.  Have a good winter!

The Best of 2009 Blog Challenge
December 11: The best place. A coffee shop? A pub? A retreat center? A cubicle? A nook?

A hidden pond of tiny frogs.

(A few more words and pictures in my Malibu post.)

New Items added to the website today:

Aborgini Design Vase

Peacock Stained Glass Lamp

Cast Iron Frog Bookends

Monkey with Mirror

Visit the main site to view all our available items  … you’ll find a perfect Holiday Gift!

Rana pretiosa or the Oregon spotted frog is a rapidly disappearing feature in northwest North America. The Oregon Zoo is trying to stem the loss by raising and releasing replacements.

Rana Pretiosa