What is the best thing in life?

 

"NOBODY UNDERSTANDS ME!"

Why doesn't anyone understand me? My friend Rosetta Stone doesn't have that problem. 

FIGHT! Coot vs Swan

Part Two of bird bravery!

Momma Duck protects the babies - AMAZING !

Sometimes I think that if I had been raised by ducks, I would have turned out a whole lot better. This mother mallard is incredibly brave in fighting off a seagull predator which would have grabbed her babies for a light snack. I've seldom ever seen such courage in any being, human or animal. 

The Troll Doll Channel: 💗TROLL WEDDING MARCH!💙

Two of my favorite Dam trolls renew their vows (for perhaps the 15th time!). 

😳"MY DOG STEPPED ON A BEE!" (courtroom re-enactment)

Oh boy, this took a long time to make! I took the Monty Python "foot stomp" gif and literally grafted the image of the bee onto it, frame by frame. I didn't do a perfect job - I see stuff in the background that I swear I got rid of! But for me, it's pretty advanced animation. I couldn't use the Sousa Liberty Bell March (the Monty Python theme), so I found the next best thing, the Washington Post March (by Sousa, of course).

😱SCREAMING COWBOY!🤠

I honestly do not know how I have lived my life not knowing about this! I never reveal my sources, but suffice it to say it has been around YouTube for a long time. It has to be in my current top five.

Transparent gifs!

 

Back by popular demand! THE LAUGHING JESUS

 

I'd LOVE to post this on YouTube, but would probably be thrown in jail for it. I recently received a warning about harassment, threats and bullying for posting THIS video:

So do YOU see any harassment, threats and bullying in this video? It's a guy dancing around in a church service. That's it. I've tried everything to contest this warning, as it could lead to a lot of trouble if I don't. But YouTube is now saying they can't review the material because it has been deleted. AND GUESS WHO DELETED IT? YouTube, of course. It's a circular argument, a perfect Catch-22, but I won't stop contesting it and appealing it, or trying to. I still DO have the original material, the gif I made which was the source of the offending "removed" video. But that's not enough. And now they are claiming ***I*** deleted it, and thus they can't  proceed. It's insane, but it's the kind of convoluted arguments YT ensnares you with so you can NEVER find justice. I've been dealing with a guy named Jeremy (OR, maybe he is just another bot!) for weeks now, but I am hitting obstacle after obstacle. I have also thought of sending another version of this which is (inexplicably!) still on YouTube, but that might mean I lose my channel altogether. It is Big Brother writ large. Please, Elon Musk, buy this thing so we can post videos of dancing preachers again!

😮MEET PERFECT PATTY!😮

I knew Patty perfectly, and believe me, she was far from perfect. One of the cruellest and most destructive individuals I have ever had the misfortune of encountering. And since she was blood kin, there was no escaping her. NOW I have learned to evict her from my mind and my heart and my thoughts. I simply say to those shades which want to ruin my serenity and my life: "DISMISSED!" And those shadows retreat somewhere, and soon, I don't even remember what the memory was. 

MORTICIA ADDAMS: "Mind if I smoke?"

The Troll Doll Channel: TRIPLE UNBOXING! Viking Bank, Cave Man Plushie, ...

Three new and unusual trolls. I don't have room for these either. . . 

Lovely Victorian corset ladies!

 

I was NOT going to make any Amber Heard videos! AND THEN. . . . . . . .

 

Goat Birth! Welcome Blossom!

It's another day on Sunflower Farm, which means the birth of another adorable kid. It amazes me how the newborn goats almost immediately begin hopping around on those springs we call legs. When the world is too much, when all seems woeful, just have a  look at the goats - they're better at this life business than we are.

EERIE, ANCIENT FOLK SONG: "She is only a pauper, who nobody owns"

This snippet came from a very strange documentary from decades ago, about a woman from rural Maine in the late 1800s who was ostracized from her community for what was considered the ultimate sin. This woman had a desperate life of privation from childhood on, and was violated and made pregnant at age 13 (already stigmatized by poverty, and now by illicit pregnancy). The baby was taken away from her and sent away, perhaps even sold, destined to be an unpaid farm laborer. She was forced to go on struggling through a harsh life, marrying a poor farmer, being widowed, then later in her life meeting a younger man whom she thought understood her soul. 

She married him for love, a rare thing back then, in spite of her community's disapproval of the age difference. A few years later, someone came to visit her and recognized the young man. To everyone's horror, this turned out to be the baby she had been forced to give away at age 13. Without any knowledge of it, she had married her own son. She spent the next few decades of her life living as a hermet, with virtually no contact with other human beings. Only occasionally, someone would begrudgingly donate food to keep her alive. Children would be sent over to her shack with bags of basic provisions, a sack of potatoes, a few garden vegetables - and THROW the sack over her fence so they would not need to talk to her. The town congratulated themselves on their charity towards such a sinner.

This woman was a pauper - a person so poor and so devoid of fundamental resources that she becomes a pawn in the hands of the powerful. I was horrified to learn that paupers were actually bought and sold as an acceptable form of slavery. They were expected to be grateful to be "rescued" from starvation and homelessness and given the golden opportunity to perform unpaid, backbreaking labor on a farm for room and board. The only escape from this fate was death.

This song seemed to sum it all up. It was so eerie it made my hair stand on end. The words are as follows:

There's a grim horse hearse
And the hearse has no springs,

And hark to the dirge the sad driver sings:
"Rattle her bones (her bones)

Over the stones (the stones)

She is only a pauper

Who nobody owns."

This evokes the image of a corpse lying in the back of a rickety old wagon, given a pauper's burial which the community no doubt thinks is too good for her.

Yoo-Hoo from Honolulu! (family photos)

 

HARRY'S RUSSIAN DANCE!

Is this my Grade Nine science teacher? (animation)

I love taking a tiny snippet of film and "doing things to it". 

Smiling Madonna

 

Pearls before Swine. . .

Meghan Markle REMOVES all references to doomed Netflix animation series from Archewell website after woke show was axed by the streaming giant

• Pearl, the working title for the Markle-created show, was officially canceled last week as part of a wave of cutbacks prompted by Netflix's drop in subscribers
•  On Sunday, a prior description of the series under the Archewell Productions subsection was nowhere to be found
• 'Like many girls her age, our heroine Pearl is on a journey of self-discovery as she tries to overcome life's daily challenges,' a now-removed quote read 
• The quietly deleted references come a week after Netflix announced the cancelation of the animated show, which had Meghan as an executive producer 

By Andrea Blanco For Dailymail.Com

Published: 12:54 EDT, 8 May 2022 | Updated: 13:28 EDT, 8 May 2022

A humiliated Meghan Markle wiped all references to her doomed Netflix animation 'Pearl' from her Archewell website after the series was axed by the streaming giant.

Pearl, the working title for the Markle-created show, was officially canceled last week as part of a wave of cutbacks prompted by Netflix's drop in subscribers.

A prior description of the series under the Archewell Productions subsection was nowhere to be found on Sunday, 

'Like many girls her age, our heroine Pearl is on a journey of self-discovery as she tries to overcome life's daily challenges,' a now-removed quote from Meghan read.

It continued: 'I'm thrilled that Archewell Productions, partnered with the powerhouse platform of Netflix and these incredible producers, will together bring you this new animated series, which celebrates extraordinary women throughout history.

The quietly deleted references come a week after Netflix announced the cancelation of the animated show, in which Meghan was taking the role of executive producer along with David Furnish, Elton John's husband.

'Like many girls her age, our heroine Pearl is on a journey of self-discovery as she tries to overcome life's daily challenges,' a now-removed quote from Meghan read

Meghan Markle wiped all references to her doomed Netflix animation 'Pearl' from the Archewell website after the series was axed by the streaming giant

The show was officially canceled last week as part of a wave of cutbacks prompted by Netflix's drop in subscribers.

Pearl, which focused on 12-year-old Pearl's exploring achieving women throughout history, was only in the development stage.

The Archewell website now features 'Heart of Invictus,' a docu-series about competitors on their journey to the Invictus Games in The Hague in 2020, as the Duchess' sole active media project.

It is Meghan's and Harry's second attempt within a week to salvage their status, after the Queen sensationally banned the couple from appearing at the palace's balcony for Trooping the Colour, the start of the Jubilee commemorations.

The defiant Sussexes later revealed in a tweet via their friend and journalist Omid Scobie that they will still fly in from California - with Archie, three, and Lilibet, 11 months - for the events to mark the monarch's 70 years on the throne that begin on June 2.

Meghan and Prince Harry established Archewell Productions in the autumn of 2020 to create scripted series, docu-series, documentaries, features, and children's programming.

Pearl was expected to be the first animated series created by the production company.

It was set to see a young girl inspired by Meghan - whose name means 'pearl' in Welsh - take on various social injustices, while highlighting the work of feminist icons.  

It is Meghan's and Harry's second attempt within a week to salvage their status, after the Queen sensationally banned the couple from appearing at the palace's balcony for Trooping the Colour, the start of the Jubilee commemorations. Above, Meghan, Harry and the Queen pictured during Trooping the Colour in 2018  

Despite dropping Pearl, insiders claimed Netflix remains optimistic about the Archewell deal and has several projects planned, including a documentary series called Heart of Invictus, which follows the recent Invictus Games.

Netflix made several cuts in late April and early May, including dropping two other children's shows and firing staff.

The streaming service scratched Dino Daycare, which was created by Jeff King, and the South Asian-inspired adventure Boons and Curses. Both shows were already in production.

Sources familiar with the cancellations told Deadline that Netflix had warned producers to take projects still in the development stage elsewhere.

It is unclear if they offered Archewell Productions similar advice. The streaming giant shelled out a $100million in the deal with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in September 2020.

As of yet, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are yet to produce any published content for the streaming giant. But the company has pinned hopes that their upcoming series documenting the recent Invictus Games will prove value for the money.

Meghan announced the now-canceled program last July. She was taking on the roles of 'creator and executive producer' - marking the first time the former actress and Suits star would work in the position of EP.

Filmmaker David Furnish, husband to musician Elton John, was also expected to serve as an executive producer on the series.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are yet to produce any published content for the Netflix. But the company has pinned hopes that their upcoming series documenting the recent Invictus Games will prove value for the money

It comes as the streaming behemoth has lost 200,000 subscribers in just three months, while shareholders of the US firm have been warned to expect another two million subscribers to leave in the three months to July

Meghan said Pearl would 'weave together fantasy and history' while focusing 'on the adventures of a 12-year-old girl' as she attempts to 'overcome life's daily challenges'.

While few details had been released about the series, many believed the show was based - at least in part - on Meghans own childhood, citing how she named the show and its title character Pearl, the original meaning of her name.

The name Meghan originated in Wales, where it is traditionally spelled Megan, however, it originally came from the Greek name Margaret, derived from the word margaritēs, which translates to 'pearl'.

Pearl was not the first time that Markle has seemingly chosen to draw on her own life as the inspiration for her professional projects - something that she did most recently with her debut children's book The Bench, which was firmly panned by readers on both sides of the Atlantic.

Meanwhile, over half of Netflix's own reality TV shows and dramas released in 2018 have not been commissioned for a second series, compared with more than a third launched in 2017 and 28 percent in 2016, The Times reported.

The Troll Doll Channel: TRIPLE UNBOXING! Viking Bank, Cave Man Plushie, ...

A triple-troll triple threat! It's amazing to me how many of my subscribers are now watching my troll videos. This is one of the very rare videos where I actually address the camera. My channel is still booming at a ridiculous rate, and all due to one very DUMB, short, thrown-together video. Well, it happens! I recently saw a small channel which garnered 50 MILLION VIEWS for a 30-second excerpt from somebody else's video. Not even original material! And, typically, the views dropped back down to the usual few hundred after that one. But somehow or other, people are subscribing, including my grandchildren and their friends! I am now known as "famous Nanny" or "Erica's crazy grandmother". This is full-circle, as I started the channel to post videos of Caitlin and I doing baking and crafts. The coolest moment of all is when Erica's boy friend Ryder posted a comment under one of my videos, and I thought - oh no. It can't be "THE" Ryder, is it?  IT WAS!!!! I asked him to say hi to Erica for me, and he said, sure, next time I see her. It was probably the highlight of the whole ten-year-long ferociousgumby experience.

My Lord, What a Morning!

Echoes of the past. This is the Eagle Ridge Church choir under Bill Prouten. I can say nothing about the experience except that it was life-changing. I put no identification marks on it whatsoever, not wanting to poke the Copyright Beast. Nor are there time stamps or even a road map. Get lost in this. The description under the video reads:

Music from my old church choir, circa 2001: two mikes, ten singers (all untrained), led by a jazz musician who had never directed a choir before, and without a penny for good sound equipment. We recorded these songs a cappella, in somebody's living room, interrupted by doorbells, phones ringing and dogs barking, not to mention the occasional giggle fit. The result wasn't perfect, but I think we sound pretty darned good for a group which started out with very limited skills. The songs Bill Prouten arranged and composed sometimes sound strange, because most of them are dissonant, with very tight chords, and do unexpected things (listen to the end of Coventry Carol!). Often he'd come to choir practice with a sheaf of handwritten music, the ink still fresh on it like something out of Amadeus, and we'd work all evening trying to master it. He made us better singers and better musicians than we knew how to be, or ever thought we could be. Bill Prouten was a major influence in my life for five years, and what he left me with is permanent. It's only now I can bear to listen to this, and why, I do not know! My dub onto YouTube added an extra problematic level of sound reproduction due to the crappyness of my equipment, but it's better than not having the songs at all. I chose the cover because, from the back, that might be Bill himself.

Leaping Goats in sweaters: slightly surreal, very cute!

I'd say we need more goats.

Little Apricot is queen of the adult stall!

It's most definitely a Sunflower Creamery day! Time for a few little baby goats. This is the smallest one I've ever seen, but she still has that inborn instinct to JUMP UP on things - and other goats. 

Tina Brown says Prince Harry and Meghan Markle underestimated the impact...

Meghan and Harry: straight from the author`s mouth

 

Meghan saw there were deals to be made because they were royals': Ex-Vanity Fair editor Tina Brown says former actress couldn't resist what was on offer 'at the celebrity buffet'

• Tina Brown said Meghan desired to have wealth and stature like Michelle Obama
• The former Vanity Fair editor also claimed Meghan wanted to 'cash in' on royalty
• However, she said Prince Harry would have left the royals even without Meghan 

By Danyal Hussain For Mailonline

Meghan Markle saw they were 'deals to be made' as a royal and couldn't resist what was offer at the 'celebrity buffet', ex-Vanity Fair editor Tina Brown has claimed.  

Appearing on Washington Post Live today to promote her new book 'The Palace Papers', Ms Brown, who was Princess Diana's diarist, said the Duchess of Sussex has 'no purpose' and wanted to 'cash in' on the commercial arm of being a royal. 

Discussing Harry and Meghan's exit from royal life, she said: 'They wanted to be able to have a commercial arm to their activities. That was the stumbling block. Meghan certainly saw the deals that were there to be made because they were royals.

'It's as though she couldn't resist everything that was on offer on the celebrity buffet.

'A hunger to avail herself of the global leverage, to live in glorious houses without strings attached.'

Ms Brown suggested that Meghan was inspired by Michelle Obama and wanted to have the wealth as well as the stature. However, she also insisted that Harry would have wanted to leave the royal family even without Meghan. 

She added: 'A very close adviser told me 'we always knew he would go at some point he was very unhappy'. Even the Queen knew. 

'I really think Harry wanted out, himself. Meghan gave Harry the tools to leave. She understood the world of agents and deals. I mean this wasn't Harry's world, but suddenly he had in Meghan a very worldly strategist who he decided to trust above all the other advisors.' 

Tina Brown, who was Princess Diana's diarist, said the Duchess of Sussex has 'no purpose' and wanted to 'cash in' on the commercial arm of being a royal

Ms Brown suggested that Meghan was inspired by Michelle Obama and wanted to have the wealth as well as the stature

The couple have struggled since leaving the royal family, Ms Brown believes. She thinks Meghan is finding it difficult to find a 'brand' and the Sussexes didn't realise how hard life would be while cut off from the palace. 

She said: 'They both completely underestimated what it was going to be like to be without the palace platform.

'The Palace has amazing convening power, every major invitation in the world comes through that conduit. All of that is now gone. 

'Meghan doesn't really have a brand – you feel that she is grasping at the 'Twitter caring' of the moment. Vaccinations, Ukraine, Women's rights, my 40th birthday, let's have a mentoring scheme. Nothing is really going anywhere for Meghan.

'And the whole problem, with entertainment deal is you have to produce. They've signed with Netflix but what have we seen? Nothing.

'Creating entertainment that works is very hard to do. Their Spotify podcast is going nowhere. Netflix is not doing so well are they going to renew that contract?'

Ms Brown also discussed why Meghan would have struggled so much after joining the royal family. 

She suggested: 'She was suddenly completely dependent on her husband for money and he was completely dependent on the bank of dad – Charles and at the same time had to ask Granny for one of the houses on the royal estates to live.

'That kind of infantilizing was very maddening to Meghan.

'I think the queen and the palace set them up for a lot of success. She gave her patron of the National Theatre and vice chairman of the commonwealth foundation – no better platform to talk about women's education and the question of minorities.'

Her latest comments come after she previously claimed Meghan would not want to return to the UK for more than a fleeting visit if Harry mends his relationship with his father and brother because 'she disliked England',

Ms Brown has said she believes Prince Harry may even want to make a sensational return to the Royal Family after the Queen's death - splitting his time between Britain and the US - though Meghan would be unlikely to be fully on board. 

Her latest comments come after she previously claimed Meghan would not want to return to the UK for more than a fleeting visit

Ms Brown has described Megxit as a 'disaster for both sides' and claimed Harry and Meghan caused 'maximum mayhem' when leaving the Royal Family because they are 'addicted to drama'.  

She said: 'I think that Harry is going to want to come back when the Queen dies to serve his country. And I think they will find a way to reel him in. And it's possible that Meghan - maybe they will have a commuter arrangement. I don't know. I don't see Meghan ever wanting to go back. She disliked England.' 

Ms Brown claimed that the British public are 'very very sad' about Megxit, because they took Harry to their hearts and also tried to support him when he found love with Meghan. Ms Brown also labelled Prince Harry a 'very impetuous man' and revealed how Palace advisors 'always thought he would leave'.

She said: 'I actually think there is a Harry-shaped hole in the royal family now. And Harry was beloved, actually, by the British people. And people adored Meghan when she came into the mix.

'So it was actually very, very sad for everybody that it went so wrong because they actually need Harry and Meghan now. You should see, the Queen is failing, and she's very frail. They kind of need Harry and Meghan to bring that star power and to be on the balcony at the Jubilee. We have to have a royal family up there. We can't have Andrew up there.'

Harry and Meghan arrived in Britain after an overnight British Airways flight from Los Angeles. They did not bring their children, Archie, two, and ten-month-old Lilibet – who the Queen has still not met.

They were driven to Frogmore where they spent the night. After his failure to attend his grandfather's memorial service last month – amid an ongoing legal row with the Home Office over the removal of his police protection – Harry's offer to visit the Queen was being viewed as an olive branch.

But the Duke of Sussex upset palace officials and reportedly his father and brother after claiming part of his visit was motivated by 'making sure she's protected and got the right people around her.'

Harry went on to claim that the Queen tells him things she feels she cannot tell anyone else.

He said: 'We have a really special relationship. We talk about things that she can't talk about with anybody else. So that's always a nice piece to it.'

🤫PRINCE HARRY SNEAKS INTO THE UK.

This guy is absolutely hilarious! What I like best about his Harry bits is that they are BITS - only a couple of minutes long. Right now in Internetland, things are either drastically too short (TIKTOK!) or drag on forever (obnoxious podcasts that drone on and on for several hours). Two and a half minutes is about right, I think. 

I am too upset to write about this - so I will let someone else.

Letter: 'Too many of these decisions are being made behind closed doors,' Port Coquitlam writer says of tree loss

Port Coquitlam residents witnessed a number of healthy, mature trees being removed from Veterans Park and Leigh Square in Port Coquitlam on March 15 and 16, with more still to come down, this letter writer states.

Letter to the Editor Mar 17, 2022 4:00 PM

To the Editor:

Port Coquitlam residents witnessed a number of healthy, mature trees being removed from Veterans Park and Leigh Square in Port Coquitlam on March 15 and 16, with more still to come down.

Many passersby expressed shock, dismay, and even anxiety at seeing the big trees fall.

In addition to enhancing Port Coquitlam's "small town" charm, these urban trees provided a welcome habitat for birds and other small wildlife species.

Seniors could often be seen resting on the benches and chatting under the shade of the flowering cherry trees along Shaughnessy Street.

Trees buffer city noises, calm our senses, and are good for our mental health.

Healthy, mature trees also provide valuable ecosystem services including helping to cool our cities during increasingly hot weather and summer heat domes.

During wet weather and atmospheric rivers, the same trees help to manage storm-water run-off and mitigate risk of flooding.

Trees produce life-giving oxygen, take up carbon, and filter out air pollutants.

Twenty-one trees in total are slated for removal in this portion of the project. Approximately 40 "replacement" trees will be planted.

However, it's worth noting that urban trees reach their most productive point in terms of providing ecological services between the ages of 60 to 150 years, depending on the tree species and health.

Many of the trees which are being removed are just coming into their most productive years.

High-level public consultation was carried out on the development plan, but confusion and lack of clarity remained with respect to tree retention.

Environmental groups were excluded as stakeholders in the consultation process and information was not made publicly available regarding which trees were to be removed.

Too many of these decisions are currently being made behind closed doors and too many voices are being silenced.

As we continue to grapple with the effects of both a global pandemic and the climate crisis, retention of healthy, mature urban trees is more important than ever.

Port Coquitlam mayor and council: It's time to stop paving paradise.

Dr. Nancy H. Furness

on behalf of Wondrous Tree Fellowship

(PLEASE NOTE: Though I am still too traumatized to write about this in any detail, just let me say that ALL the mature trees were removed from the downtown. There is not ONE SINGLE TREE left in the town centre of Old Port Coquitlam, not even a sapling. The magnificent flowering cherry trees, at least fifty years old and just at their peak of blossoming, were ALL ripped out. The entire character of the downtown has been ruined, and cannot come back. The fabled "replanting" cannot happen, because every square inch of the downtown has been paved over. There is nothing but a sea of cement, solid concrete with no end, NO earth to plant anything, not even any grass! The lovely tulip garden in front of the City Hall has been paved over. This is called "improvement", and it was done for no good reason, except perhaps commerce. When I first saw it, reacting with shock and horror, I thought, they must be widening the road. But no. Diseased trees? No, not at all. It is to "beautify" and "improve" the area around Old City Hall, considered the most beautiful landmark and most famous tourist attraction in Port Coquitlam. And it has been ruined forever. I will assume the promised "replanting" cannot be done unless it is very small trees in cement pots by the side of the road.)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, YOUR MAJESTY!

 

BIZARRE DANCE ROUTINE on 1950s TV VARIETY SHOW

Television was in its infancy, and it shows. Early TV was a combination of recycled ratio shows (with pictures) and vaudeville, done live, so there were plenty of glitches which were often the most entertaining part of the show. Here a youngish Jack Albertson performs his dance routine, an old-time shuffle/buck-and-wing which the audience applauds madly, because they think he is an "old man" who can barely stand up. But no - it's Jack Albertson in aged makeup, which becomes apparent when he sticks his face right into the camera lens. These weird closeups were common in early TV, a way to impress the folks at home, or scare them half to death. Jack Albertson went on to be a successful character actor who actually WAS an old man when he appeared in such '70s sitcoms as Chico and the Man. 

Pelican trying to Eat a Capybara Pup and Failing

Oh my goodness.