Tuesday, August 1, 2023

How to Spend Too Much on your Trolls. . .

 

(This listing on eBay is for a set of troll shoes and sunglasses. In Canadian dollars, they cost $123.00. Hey, even I don't spend that much on my trolls!)

TROLL DOLL SHOES AND GLASSES FOR YOUR 2 3/4" - 3" DAM OR SCANDIA TROLL DOLL

Condition:
Used
Price:
US $75.00
ApproximatelyC $99.26
Shipping:
US $16.95 (approx C $22.43) eBay International ShippingSee detailsfor shipping
Located in: Athol, Massachusetts, United States
This item may be subject to duties and taxes upon delivery
Delivery:
Estimated between Thu, 10 Aug and Fri, 18 Aug to V3B 5V3
Seller ships within 3 days after receiving cleared payment.
Payments:
    
Returns:
30 days returnBuyer pays for return shippingSee details- for more information about returns




Saturday, July 29, 2023

Miami Cops Stop Dancers in Mall, Then Break It Down



                                                    Oh, just because!

Friday, July 28, 2023

She eats out of my hand! Glorious White Dove on Burnaby Lake


Paloma, the pure white dove, has been appearing on the dock at Burnaby Lake for months now. We sometimes see domestic birds among the wild flocks (we even saw three white barnyard ducks - then two - then one - then - ). Domestic birds have no street smarts, and though the flock may protect them for a while, sooner or later they're caught by predators and devoured. A pure white bird such as this one is an obvious target. In this video, it appears Paloma has found a mate among the pigeons. 

Friday, July 21, 2023

"The F*ck*ing Grifters" STRIKE AGAIN!

  




On Wednesday, DailyMail.com exclusively reported that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex made a very unusual request to the White House after attending Queen Elizabeth II's funeral in September.

The Bidens were in London to express the deep condolences of the nation.

What better time to network!



So, the couple reportedly asked Joe and the First Lady if they could hitch a ride on Air Force One to fly them all back home to the good ole' U.S. of A.

Yes, Harry and Meghan had been excluded from a reception at Buckingham Palace. 

There were some reports that crowds were booing them. 

And the Sussexes were still public enemy number one in their home county after their infamous tell-all Oprah interview, during which they accused the Royal Family of all manner of horrible behavior – from racist microaggressions to neglecting, a near-suicidal pregnant Meghan.

But onward and upward.

Who were they kidding?

Even the incompetent Biden White House was smart enough to dodge this terrible, awful, very bad idea.

Sources told the DailyMail.com that the wayward royals received an immediate 'no'. It was a 'non-starter'.

If the president's staff had put the commander-in-chief in that position then they would have deserved to be fired on the spot. The president has bigger things to worry about, like America's relationship with its closest ally. 

'It would have caused such a commotion,' a source told DailyMail.com. 'It would have strained relations with the Palace and the new King.'


On Wednesday, DailyMail.com exclusively reported that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex made a very unusual request to the White House after attending Queen Elizabeth II's funeral in September.

Indeed, it would have.

Just three months later, Netflix streamed their boring, propaganda piece, disguised as a documentary, 'Harry & Meghan.' The six-part series portrayed the Royal Family as collaborators in a racist and archaic system. 

A month later, Harry went after nearly every member of his family again when his memoir Spare hit the bookshelves.

No wonder the White House steered clear.

And the fact that the Sussexes, for all their high-paid, politically-connected advisers – one worked for Hillary Clinton and another for Michelle Obama – didn't grasp this reality tells you all you need to know about them.

They're completely, utterly, hopelessly delusional.

Air Force One is not the Biden's private plane. It's the property of the American people. And it's kind of a big deal.

Some of the most significant moments in the history of the country have happened in the fuselages of the aircrafts that carry the president the United States.



On September 11th, President George W Bush was rushed into the skies on Air Force One to begin coordinating the country's response. After President John F. Kennedy was assassinated his successor, Lyndon Johnson, was sworn in as president, with Jackie Kennedy at his side, on Air Force One

In short, one does not ask to jump on the president's plane. They get invited. Being a passenger is a privilege granted to very few, and it is usually reserved for elected officials, diplomats, and the First Family.

In a show of national pride and respect, my father's casket was transported from Arizona to Washington D.C., by a U.S. government plane, to lay in state in the U.S. Capitol. 

And even then, President Trump sent Air Force Two.

But by all means, Harry and Meghan. Here's your presidential peanuts. Enjoy your flight!

Did they really think the White House would be so stupid?


The Bidens were in London to express the deep condolences of the nation. What a better time to network! (Above) Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex watch as the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II is placed into the hearse in London Monday Sept. 19, 2022

Air Force One is not the Biden's private plane. It's the property of the American people. And it's kind of a big deal.

As the Oprah interview made clear, these two had no qualms about dishing the dirt on private conversations when it accrued to their benefit. And Meghan's nascent political aspirations are no big secret.

Wouldn't an intimate eight-hour flight with the most powerful man in the world be a convenient launching pad for her next career move?

Wouldn't it have been great to plaster a picture of the Sussexes and the Bidens waving from the plane's staircase on a campaign poster?

This was nakedly self-serving. And what did they have to offer the Bidens? Absolutely nothing.

Doesn't this explain everything?

Harry and Meghan seemed to have been convinced that the world owed them. That if only people could see how brilliant, talented and mistreated they were, adoring crowds would lift them on to their shoulders and parade them through the streets.

And you know what? It worked - for a while.



Spotify and Netflix signed them up for $20 million and $100 million contracts, respectively. Then everyone caught on.

'The f***ing grifters. That's the podcast we should have launched with them,' said Bill Simmons, a top Spotify executive last month. 'I'm so tired of this guy. What does he bring to the table? He just whines about s*** and keeps giving interviews.'

Now, instead of being cheered and embraced for stabbing their family members in the back for a paycheck, most have abandoned them.

They're criticized in the once adoring mainstream media and polls show that public's opinion of them – on both sides of the Atlantic – has soured.



Finally, there was one more incredibly revealing piece of information in this new reporting.

The day after spilling the beans on Oprah, Meghan apparently thought she had won an ally in Jill Biden.

The First Lady had wore an Oscar de la Renta dress with a lemon pattern to a State Department event. The outfit was similar to an Oscar de la Renta dress Meghan had worn a month before.

It must have been a subtle nod of support for the embattled Duchess, so said Twitter.

Meghan may have thought so too. She reportedly sent the First Lady a basket of lemons to express her thanks.

So low-key. Because it's their little secret.

Of all the scandals, headlines and missteps that Meghan and Harry have been involved in over the past few years, this one is my favorite, because it perfectly encapsulates the phenomenon.

Their plan to trash their Royal Family and jet off to America to be rich and famous never made sense, because it was irrational. And rationality – apparently – was not their strong suit.

Reality isn't an obstacle – if you don't acknowledge it.


Thursday, July 20, 2023

🌈A Bird in Paradise🌞


My day in Paradise. The song of Swainson's  thrush, which I remember from childhood days at the cottage in Muskoka. Years later I wanted to identify it, but only had the sound to go on. I googled "bird whose song spirals upward", and a moment later I had a video that matched.

Thursday, July 13, 2023

SCANDALOUS Pre-Code Betty Boop! (Will this get me a decency strike?)



Admittedly, I cheated a little and slowed this WAY down. It's a tiny excerpt from the infamous Bimbo's Initiation, often called the most bizarre cartoon of the 1930s. It's all about the hapless Bimbo (and nobody quite knows WHAT Bimbo is, kind of like Goofy in Stand by Me) and how he wants to join some sort of lodge or club or Scientology group (which didn't exist back then), or Freemason society or whatever it was supposed to represent - but it involved a bizarre and convoluted series of ordeals/rituals/hazing practices. 

Towards the end of it, a pre-Code Betty, wearing her usual teeny tiny dress, does a seductive dance in front of him, explicit enough that I did not dare include it on my video (though it appears on DOZENS of other channels). I once got a "decency" strike for showing a woman taking a shower with a bikini on (along with incomprehensible strikes for showing a puppet in a glass case, a jiggly cheesecake, and a boy throwing a rock at a wall). 


If you get three strikes in a 90-day period, your channel and all the videos on it is terminated forever, and in many cases you can't even start a new one - you are banned for showing a preacher dancing joyously in a church (WHY??), among other strikes I can't even remember. And this was a reupload of something I had already posted years before. Yet, racist, sexist and homophobic channels/videos are allowed to stand with the most tasteless, offensive and outrageous material in them. 

Some strikes happened two or three years after I posted the original video.  So I had to censor a scene from this cartoon showing Betty shimmying like the '20s flapper she is. But it's Betty Boop, for God's sake! I was anxiously waiting (and I am still anxiously waiting) to get a strike because Bimbo taps her bottom, after Betty WHACKS his bottom, as part of the dance. I could well get a decency strike for THIS, too. Pray for me, please.

Saturday, July 8, 2023

Million-Dollar Baby? (or thousand-dollar troll?)

 



Troll Doll Vintage High Design

Item Information 

Condition: Used

Price:

US $693.17

Approximately C $925.07

Breathe easy. Returns accepted.

Shipping:

US $55.00 (approx C $73.40) 

Expedited International Shipping.

International shipment of items may be subject to customs processing and additional charges.

Located in: Japan, Japan

Delivery:

Expedited International Shipping Estimated between Thu, 20 Jul and Mon, 24 Jul to V3B 5V3

Seller ships within 6 days after receiving cleared payment.

Please allow additional time if international delivery is subject to customs processing.

Total Price $998.47


 

NT Troll Doll Bank Toys N Things - 1991 - Vintage

Item Information

Condition: Used

Very good condition. See description and photos.

Price:

US $10.00

Approximately C $13.35

Shipping:

US $13.93 (approx C $18.59) 

eBay International Shipping

Located in: Elgin, South Carolina, United States

This item may be subject to duties and taxes upon delivery

Delivery:

eBay International Shipping Estimated between Wed, 19 Jul and Thu, 27 Jul to V3B 5V3

Seller ships within 1 day after receiving cleared payment.

Total Price:  $32

 



Set Of 2 Vintage Troll Bank Con Bank Pink Yellow Used

Item Information

Condition:

UsedUsed

Price:

US $12.50

Approximately C $16.68

Bottom of Form

Shipping:

US $20.19 (approx C $26.94) 

eBay International Shipping

Located in: Bethlehem, Connecticut, United States

This item may be subject to duties and taxes upon delivery

Delivery:

eBay International Shipping Estimated between Wed, 19 Jul and Thu, 27 Jul to V3B 5V3

Seller ships within 1 day after receiving cleared payment.

Total price for two: $44.00


OK THEN! I owe you an explanation, gentle reader. The trolls listed here are from three different vendors on eBay. (One is located in Bethlehem, but as far as I can see it has no religious significance.) They are all the same troll: meaning, very cheaply-made banks which are hollow inside. Nothing very special about them, and doing a simple search, I found  dozens of them on sale on eBay for well under $50.00. 

So why is THE SAME TROLL for sale here for nearly a thousand dollars?? Will ANYONE take them up on it? Is the first one made of gold, or what?

It's from Japan, but 85% of what I buy now seems to be from China. The prices are competitive, there is generally free shipping, and if anything it comes sooner than most of my purchases. 

It just shows you that you must shop around. If I see a troll I really like, I usually don't buy it right away. I look for similar or identical ones for less money. Given this extreme example, and the fact I'm on a budget and must write down every penny I spend, I think that's a pretty good idea.

BTW, I have NO intention of buying this troll, at any price!

Wednesday, July 5, 2023

🌞A Gross Beak? No - it's a GROSBEAK!


I repeatedly tell my husband, "You see how little it takes to make me happy?" It's true. I no longer want for anything. A new bird at the feeder is a simple delight. 

Friday, June 30, 2023

💥Back Yard Bear: Our Fence has been CRASHED!💥


Such excitement in the back yard yesterday, and it was all CAUGHT ON TAPE! This young bear wandered into the back yard, knocked down a bird feeder, then flopped down and munched contentedly on sunflower seeds for 20 minutes or so, while we panicked and called the conservation people. We saw no break in the fence, so we didn't know how he got in or how he'd get out. But finally, after opening the gate (the sound spooked him) and banging on a pot, he leaped up the tall fence as nimbly as a cat, and wandered back and forth on the top of it before wandering away. Now we know bears can get in with no trouble at all, and I won't be able to refill the bird feeder for a while. Or not ever!

Wednesday, June 28, 2023

"Ah, the French" - Orson Welles REMIX


I just rediscovered this work of GENIUS while putting together some crude animations with Orson Welles doing commercial outtakes. I seem to be doing an Orson Welles series now, though I never intended to and now wonder if I should stop. BUT NOT BEFORE THIS. It is genius.