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Chuck & Beans Friday, 18 May 2012, 4:00 pm

Source: Shoebox | brian

Newsdroppings Friday, 18 May 2012, 12:50 pm

200 buffalo escaped from an Iowa farm. Officials speculate that they were dissatisfied with the small number of deer and antelope playing in Iowa.

Brooklyn Decker says the movie “Battleship” isn’t just she and Rihanna sitting around saying “B-4” which, by the way, we would totally watch.  And buy the DVD. And watch all the extras.

A ship that may have sunk almost two hundred years ago has been discovered along with its treasure trove of… ceramic plates.  Surprisingly, the movie rights to this are still available.

Pinterest may be worth over a billion dollars, which can buy you a lot of crock pots and barnwood.

There’s a park in Oklahoma that lets kids pose for pictures with tigers. According to the park’s very enthusiastic spokesman, it’s “Grrrrrrrrrrrrreat!”

Swan eggs are being stolen in a story that is probably not going to turn out to be beautiful.

A child found a finger in his sandwich, so that’s probably his last trip to the “pose with a tiger” park.

She worked hard for the money, so you better treat her legacy right.

Source: Shoebox | Bill

Smithees Thursday, 17 May 2012, 2:00 pm

Source: Shoebox | jsmit13

Newsdroppings Thursday, 17 May 2012, 1:07 pm

For the first time in 20 years, a “ring of fire” eclipse will be visible in the U.S. And now we have that Johnny Cash song stuck in our heads. Which is cool.

7.5 million kids miss a month of school every year. Teachers are apparently unaware of the problem, thanks to that one wisenheimer who keeps saying “Present!” in different voices when other kids’ names are called.

Coffee drinkers live longer. But not by a latte.

Thought bad behavior in professional sports was limited to the NFL and the NBA? Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome baseball!

Do you live in a “well read” city?  Reading this right now doesn’t count.  It counts with us; it counts a lot.  But not for the survey.

You can lead a horse to water.  Then, you need a really good plan to get him out of the water.

Those shoes that were supposed to help your butt, probably didn’t help your butt. But to be fair, neither did those donuts.

There are 4,700 potentially dangerous asteroids coming to earth, according to NASA. Looks like it’s time to call in this guy.

A baby was delivered at a Florida gas station. The mother and child are doing well and are currently recuperating in aisle 3, next to the corn nuts.

Source: Shoebox | Bill

Random Russ Wednesday, 16 May 2012, 4:38 pm

Source: Shoebox | Shelley

Newsdroppings Wednesday, 16 May 2012, 1:17 pm

Facebook is selling more shares to pay the taxes on the money it makes from… selling shares? Probably?  We’re not “friends” with any economics majors, are we?

Your sunscreen might be unsafe. For one thing, you could slip right out of the deck chair.

John Mayer called himself an idiot on Ellen, which saved Taylor Swift the trouble of writing another song.

The oldest female bodybuilder and the oldest yoga instructor are inspirational to those of us planning to become the oldest donut connoisseur one day.  Thank you, ladies! You give us hope.

Katherine Heigl has added another baby to the family which we assume will cause lots of romantic comedy style misunderstandings like running through airports and notes being delivered to the wrong person and finally everything ending just fine while an upbeat pop song plays.

Pitcher Stephen Strasburg accidentally got some hot ointment in an unexpected place during last night’s game. He wouldn’t say where, but the term “low and inside” was used.

A Wisconsin man was arrested after “ninja kicking” another man in the head. What happened to the good old days of civility and throwing stars?

A bear stole a 50-pound bag of sunflower seeds. Authorities suspect the incident may be related to the 275-pound bag of trail mix they recently discovered in the woods.

If you hate needles, not looking at them can make them hurt less. Although not getting poked by them is probably your best bet.

Source: Shoebox | Bill

burbles Tuesday, 15 May 2012, 2:13 pm

Source: Shoebox | Dick

Newsdroppings Tuesday, 15 May 2012, 1:03 pm

 

President Obama apparently knows which Kardashian is which. So, if that’s what you base your vote on, well…sorry…lost our train of thought in a shudder of fear for our country’s future.

Coyotes are invading San Francisco. The really bad part is that where coyotes go, yodeling country singers usually follow.

The new baby name list is out and Jacob and Sophia are at the top.  In your chubby faces, Mason and Isabella!

Kiawah Island was named America’s happiest seaside town. But don’t worry, the unhappiest seaside town will be fine, because they’re still, well, a seaside town.

Here’s a list of America’s nine youngest CEOs, just in case you were feeling good about what you’ve accomplished in your life so far.

A man who robbed an internet café was caught because he forgot to log out of Facebook before the robbery. His “Totally about to rob a café LOL” status was also a tip-off.

UPDATE: That New Jersey town from yesterday’s Newsdroppings did not actually ban texting while walking. Residents breathed a collective sigh of relief as they got up and stretched their legs for the first time in days.

Legally, killer whales have to have companions.  You can end up standing around awkwardly by yourself at this summer’s family reunion and the government won’t care, but killer whales, oh, the killer whales can’t be alone.

A teenage boy’s excessive body spray set off an alarm. He’s telling his teenage boy buddies that it’s because he’s “smokin’ hot.” They’re not buying it.

Source: Shoebox | Bill

Tiny Little Movie Review: Dark Shadows Monday, 14 May 2012, 2:18 pm

When you see “Alice Cooper” in the credits for a movie,  you’re probably going to sit there wondering when Alice Cooper shows up.  Let me put your curious mind at ease, it’s toward the end, and he does a couple of songs.  I don’t feel like this is a spoiler, because you’re going to see it, like I just said, in the credits.

He is not looking absolutely great.  Not 100% great.  To be fair, he’s almost retirement age, which brings some questions to mind.  He’s already a golfer who lives in Arizona, which is basically pre-retiring. Maybe this was all just kind of a pain, being in a movie.  He still tours and that probably goes just like he wants, but movies?  Not his forte, most likely.  You just didn’t get the feeling that he sat in his make-up chair getting his black tears or possibly blood looking stuff on his face while Johnny sat next to him getting his dead a long time look going and they like joked around and the make-up people had to  start over.

But if you let wondering why AC didn’t seem to be all that into it get into your head, that’s going to hurt the movie for you.  So don’t do that, OK?  Go into it knowing that Alice Cooper is going to show up, in full regalia, and he’s going to be… fine.  But only fine.  Let the rest of the movie happen to you, so to speak, as if Alice isn’t going to show up at all.  Then maybe glob on a ton of eyeliner and go play golf.

Source: Shoebox | Dan

Awkward Moments Monday, 14 May 2012, 2:00 pm

Source: Shoebox | Shelley

Newsdroppings Monday, 14 May 2012, 1:13 pm

The Avengers broke the $1 billion barrier, which is not that surprising given a giant guy known for breaking stuff is on their team.

The CEO of Yahoo lost his job because he faked part of his resume. Bet we know what word he’s not saying.

NBC says they’re planning 10 sit-coms in their fall TV line-up. Wow. It’s a great time to be an actress who specializes in playing the goofy best friend.

A New Jersey town has banned texting while walking. Residents responded with disappointment, saying they enjoy walking and really hate to have to give it up.

A man set a world record by fist-pumping for 17 hours straight. He celebrated his achievement by, well, you know.

What face would you make if Jessica Biel were kissing you?  Probably this one.

A skier fell 160 feet in what we’re now considering the best reason ever not to do things.

An 8-year-old made a basket from half court.  Fortunately, it’s only 10 years till he’ll be old enough for the NBA, and the playoffs will still be going on.

This sculpture at the Olympic Village is being described as “the Godzilla of public art”, so look out for a so-so remake of it 50 years from now.

A Florida teacher might be fired for putting a “cone of shame” on her students. On the upside, it looks really good on her.

Source: Shoebox | Bill

Chuck & Beans Friday, 11 May 2012, 4:00 pm

Source: Shoebox | brian

Newsdroppings Friday, 11 May 2012, 1:06 pm

They found a different Mayan calendar that says the world isn’t going to end in 2012 after all. So we’re seriously reconsidering our plan to spend all of our retirement money on fancy phones and movie popcorn.

100 parrots were rescued from a building in Ohio. Authorities were relieved to remove the birds from unhealthy surroundings, but were totally unprepared for all the cracker requests.

Some people are afraid of a mysterious Alaska lake monster, but not us. Nope, we’re feeling pretty brave down here in Missouri.

Adele doesn’t want to be a celebrity. So everyone, please try to be considerate and stop knowing who Adele is. You’re all being very rude.

You thought you’d had enough Kate Middleton, but you know what? There’s no such thing as enough Kate Middleton.  Just ask England.

Howard Stern will join the team at America’s Got Talent where each competition will now conclude with the contestants spanking each other.

Bad news: The Chicago Bulls have been eliminated from the NBA playoffs.  Good news: that leaves 46 teams and another 7 months of playoffs.

Half of American adults are sunburned. Top half, hopefully.

Source: Shoebox | Bill

In Stores Now Thursday, 10 May 2012, 9:36 pm

Inside: Except for me. I’m special. Right, Mom? Happy Mother’s Day

Source: Shoebox | Shelley

Smithees Thursday, 10 May 2012, 2:00 pm

Source: Shoebox | jsmit13

Newsdroppings Thursday, 10 May 2012, 1:53 pm

A bunch of bicyclers are complaining about a new road sign, but the police chief told them they might as well stop because they’re just spinning their wheels.

A man has collected 38 million air miles. He says he’s holding out for when Delta starts offering flights to Jupiter.

A group of second graders are growing a pizza garden. The hard part was building a cheese-stuffed fence around the plot.

The Olympic torch was lit by “the rays of the sun” in Greece yesterday since no one packed matches under their togas.

Black holes are preventing the creation of new stars. We thought it was because Simon Cowell left Idol.

Sofia Vergara is single!  This might not affect your weekend plans, but some of us just went into a fairly major reprioritizing mode.

A baby was delivered at City Hall, proving once and for all that you can’t fight it. City Hall, you can’t fight City Hall.  Also, you can’t fight babies, but you really should have known that.

Some mail got wet when a delivery truck drove into a pond.  But several catfish who finally got their Field and Stream on time were thrilled!

Andy Warhol’s Elvis just sold for 37 million dollars.  That sounds like a lot of money, but as we reported a couple of days ago, it’s nothing to Scream about.

Source: Shoebox | Bill

Notes From The Meeting: Wednesday, 9 May 2012, 2:33 pm

Source: Shoebox | Shelley

Wednesday, 9 May 2012, 12:53 pm

The guy a terrorist group thought was going to be their suicide bomber was actually a CIA double agent. So, apparently Robert Ludlum is writing for real life now.

Josh Hamilton of the Texas Rangers hit four home runs last night, which is even more impressive when you consider that he did it in real life and not in a video game.

Scientists say a re-useable grocery bag carried the perfect storm of pathogens, which makes sense since pathogens were 3 for $1.

A man called 911 after finding a bandage in his soup. Turns out the fly was just using it as a life raft.

Would your pet pull you from the path of oncoming train?  Maybe you and your pet need to have a serious talk.

Would your co-workers pull you out of a vat of acid? Maybe you and your co-workers need to have a serious talk.

A mother and her adult son are arguing over lottery winnings. This is exactly the kind of thing that can put a real crimp in Mother’s Day celebrations.

As Americans grow larger, the ratings for The Biggest Loser are shrinking.  Possibly because too many of us are actually on the show and they don’t have TV at the ranch.

The Beach Boys are still performing together, and totally ignoring our suggestion to change their name to “The Creepy Old Guys At the Beach.”

Source: Shoebox | Bill

Happy (Almost) Mother’s Day! Tuesday, 8 May 2012, 9:30 pm

Source: Shoebox | Shelley

burbles Tuesday, 8 May 2012, 2:29 pm

Source: Shoebox | Dick

WKN: Webkinz Newz

Polly’s Birthday Banner Sunday, 20 May 2012, 8:00 pm

 

 

 

 

Roberta here with another great craft for Polly’s upcoming surprise party. Today, we’re going to make a recycled paper banner from scraps in my scrap paper box. Here’s what you need:

 

Scraps of paper (different colors), string or yarn, glue stick, scissors, drinking glass, pencil

 

Here’s what you do:

1. Trace the drinking glass on each scrap piece of paper.
2. Cut out all the circles.
3. Glue two circles, back to back, on the yarn (sandwiching the yarn in the middle). Space your pairs of circles about two inches apart.
4. Let the glue dry.

When the glue is dry, hang up your banner!

Source: WKN: Webkinz Newz | EllaMcWoof

The Persian Palace Room Theme Sunday, 20 May 2012, 7:00 pm

Have you ever wanted to live in a palace? Ever since I was just a little elephant, that’s been a dream of mine. And now it’s coming true, with this gorgeous Persian Palace room! OK, so it’s not MY room, but I can live vicariously through my client!

 

 

My favorite thing about this theme is the color palette. I love the pinks, blues, turquoises and purples. I think this might be my favorite rare theme of all time – it’s just so pretty.

When I was designing this room, I wanted to make it comfortable and airy. That’s why I added not one but TWO beds, and a whole bunch of windows. I also think the pool in the corner adds an extra-special spa-like touch.

If you’re looking to build a palace of your own, make sure to visit the Curio Shop often and see what Arte has on sale. For other ways to get rare items, read on!

Source: WKN: Webkinz Newz | EllaMcWoof

Coming Soon: Sunset Giraffe Sunday, 20 May 2012, 6:00 pm

The Webkinz Sunset Giraffe will be arriving in July 2012!

Source: WKN: Webkinz Newz | sally

Backyard: Before & After Sunday, 20 May 2012, 5:00 pm

Today Elwin and I got to try landscaping – and I think it went pretty well! We actually consulted with Fluffington (who know everything there is to know about fancy plants) before we designed the Rabbit family’s backyard. Elwin and I knew we didn’t want to make their yard as extravagant as Fluffington’s, but we did want to have an area just for the grownups – and an area for the kids.

 

First, here’s the old backyard:

 

 

We’ve got a fountain, a quiet bench (perfect for reading), and, of course, we added in a swing set and slide for the new baby! What do you think?

 

Source: WKN: Webkinz Newz | EllaMcWoof

Aztec Theme Saturday, 19 May 2012, 7:00 pm

Hailey here with another Rare theme spotlight!  Today we’re going to take a look at the always amazing Aztec theme. Check it out!

 

 

The first thing I love about this theme is the floor – followed closely by the wallpaper! The various shades of gray, greenish-gray and bluish-gray work just perfectly together.

Next, I love how vibrant the reds, blues, greens and oranges are against the slate colors. My personal favorite pieces are the bed (I LOVE that bedspread) and the fire pit. Oh! And the totems. Those are just gorgeous.

If you’ve got a Webkinz who happens to love a striking, intricate theme, then this is the one to get.

Source: WKN: Webkinz Newz | EllaMcWoof

Coming Soon: FrooFroo Fox Saturday, 19 May 2012, 5:00 pm

The Webkinz FrooFroo Fox will be available in July 2012

Source: WKN: Webkinz Newz | sally

Roll-Up Sandwich Recipe Saturday, 19 May 2012, 4:00 pm

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We’re going to need lots of tasty snacks for Polly’s surprise party so Stoogles came up with these delicious roll-up sandwiches.

What you need:

-          Flour tortillas

-          Thinly-sliced roast beef

-          Thinly-sliced Swiss cheese

-          Lettuce

-          1 tomato, finely chopped

-          Mayonnaise

-          Dijon mustard

-          Toothpicks

-          An adult assistant

What you do:

Spread a thin layer of mayonnaise and Dijon mustard on flour tortilla. Place a layer of sliced roast beef on top, followed by a layer of sliced cheese. Top with lettuce and a sprinkling of chopped tomatoes. Starting at one end of tortilla, roll up tightly and then secure with a toothpick. Wrap tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate. Before serving, unwrap and cut in half.

Polly is going to love these sandwiches almost as much as she likes having a surprise party thrown for her!

Source: WKN: Webkinz Newz | webkinzworld

Simple Strawberry Ice Pop Recipe Friday, 18 May 2012, 10:00 pm

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s a sweet idea for a treat to serve at Polly’s surprise party!

What You Need

-          Strawberries

-          Blender

-          Sieve

-          Ice pop moulds or cups

-          Plastic wrap

-          Wooden craft sticks

-          An adult helper

What you do

With the help of an adult, put the strawberries into a blender and blend until pureed. Using a wooden spoon, push through sieve into a medium bowl to remove seeds. Pour puree into ice pop moulds and stretch plastic wrap tightly over the top. Push a craft stick through the plastic wrap into each ice pop (the plastic wrap will help the craft sticks to stand up) and then place in freezer.

Let freeze overnight and then enjoy!

Source: WKN: Webkinz Newz | webkinzworld

NEW Wacky Webkinz World item: PASTRY TRAMPOLINE! Friday, 18 May 2012, 9:00 pm

 

 

 

New Wacky Webkinz World item now available: Pastry Trampoline!

 

If you love the smell of cinnamon, your pet will have a blast bouncing on this doughy dessert! It looks good enough to eat, but this cinnamon bun is really a bouncing treat!

You may find a new Wacky Webkinz World item each month at both Ganz and Webkinz eStores!

 

Source: WKN: Webkinz Newz | allison

Victorian Garden Theme Friday, 18 May 2012, 8:00 pm

Elwin here with a gorgeous OUTDOOR Rare theme – the only one, actually! It’s the Victorian Garden theme and it’s so special.

 

 

 

 

I mean, really? Have you ever seen anything so stunning in your life before? I made this garden for none other than Meriwether St. Bernard – Fluffington’s teacup loving aunt. She told me that she wanted a garden that would make the ladies in her book club sit up and take notice. And I think this garden did the trick!

My personal favorite pieces are the bird baths, tea table and intricate benches. Of course, I also love the various shrubbery and the variety of trees. Some of the flowers are from the W Shop (don’t  tell Meriwether!), and I think they work just perfectly. Actually, any flowers or trees would look wonderful in this gloriously green yard!

Source: WKN: Webkinz Newz | EllaMcWoof