Since 1999, when a prize-winning 828 pound pumpkin was donated to the Oregon Zoo, the annual Squishing of the Squash has been a premiere event. Local farmers donate excess produce, and the elephants love it. For them, it's a combination of a ball game, a treasure hunt, and snack time. The crowds of humans love it, too.
This year, the star of the show was an 18-year-old Asian elephant named Samudra. She was offered a 500 pound pumpkin that was stuffed with apples, sweet potatoes, and lettuce. She had fun playing with the gourd until it cracked open, revealing the surprise banquet. This will be the last Squishing of the Squash in Oregon for Samudra, as she is moving to the St. Louis Zoo next year. Her little sister Tula-Tu, only 20 months old, got her own smaller pumpkin. (via Laughing Squid)
Wednesday, October 21, 2026
The 2026 Squishing of the Squash
Why TV Can't Tell Stories Chronologically
The use of the flashback in telling a story has been around forever. In the hands of skilled storyteller, it can be a very effective device. The author wants to control how much the audience knows, and at what point everything can be revealed. However, in modern TV shows, the narrative flashes back and forth so often that the viewer may end up dizzy. These multiple timelines can keep us guessing, or make us just give up.
Is this just a trend in the art of storytelling? Or is it a way to pad out a too-short main story and make it last through the planned season? Or is it just fun for the cast and crew? The difference between a flashback as a stunt or an effective storytelling device is how necessary it is to making the story coherent and satisfying to watch or read.
Miss Cellania's Links
10 people who are utterly screwed if Democrats win Congress. (via Fark)
In the New Movie Whalefall, a Cetacean Swallows a Diver Whole. The Sperm Whale’s Remarkable Anatomy and Feeding Habits Shape the Survival Thriller.
The most popular baby names of 2026. And name trends for 2027.
Brady Rogers ran for city council with a strangely honest campaign. And he won!
Babies enjoying whipped cream. And two dogs.
23 Haunted and Cursed Horror Movie Sets That Really Freaked Out the Cast and Crew.
The nutrition expert who died of malnutrition.
Police Shooting of 1-Year-Old Kohen Wiley ‘Was Justified,’ Mississippi Attorney General Says. Nothing about this case makes any sense. (via Fark)
The "Lost" Empire Strikes Back Documentary by Michel Parbot
In 1980, French filmmaker Michel Parbot made an hour-long TV documentary on the filming of the second Star Wars movie. The Making of 'The Empire Strikes Back' was lost for many years (although short clips were passed around), but apparently Adywan, a French Star Wars fan, found a film copy somewhere, and it is now available for the first time in its entirety on YouTube. Enjoy behind-the-scenes footage of fight choreography, an extended look at the struggles of filming on Hoth (Norway), learn how special effects were done before CGI, and hear stories from the professionals involved in the production.
Tuesday, October 20, 2026
The Mascot
The classic stop-motion film The Mascot was produced by animator Władysław Starewicz in 1933. You might recall an excerpt from the movie titled "The Devil's Ball" aired on TV's Night Flight quite a few years ago. It's been digitally restored and is perfect for Halloween viewing. (Thanks, WTM!)
Ow!
Dustin Ballard, also known as There I Ruined It, made a song completely out of vocal extras. The first half is the word "Ow!" which made me think of walking across a floor strewn with LEGO bricks, and then it switches to "Whoa," as if you are on a slippery floor, because there's a lot of those.
Ghostmashers
This time of year, you can count on hearing Ray Parker Jr's "Ghostbusters" quite a bit. Sure, it's still appropriate, and so is the movie, but what it really needs is a mashup with eleven other songs from the 1980s. Yes, twelve songs, and if you don't recognize them all, there's a list at the YouTube page. Bill McClintock revealed this mashup in honor of Halloween. Some of the songs are what you'd normally think of as Halloween songs, but most of them are just dance hits that you know by heart. So you may as well get up and dance to them now!
I Have a New Cat!
Back in the summer, Dr. Dolittle lost her older orange cat Bread to cancer. It was a very difficult time, and she ended up euthanizing him herself.
But what about his companion, Toast? The doctor didn't want to get another cat, and her husband was working in Indiana at the time. She didn't want the cat to be lonely, and besides, they were going to be out of the country for a month this fall. Would I take Toast? Sure! So she brought Toast, and stayed a few days with him. She ended up staying with me four days out of every seven for the next two months, only going home to work. Dr. Engineer joined her here two days a week. Dr. Dolittle really doesn't like living alone. Then her husband got laid off and they are now off in Nepal for a month.
So Toast lost his cat buddy, his family, and his home. But he gained his heart's desire, the ability to go outside. My cats hated him from the start- after all, he's strange, huge, and hard to see. But Toast is eager to make friends, and after about three months, they are making progress. Marshmallow has decided he's no threat and just ignores him now. Tommy is okay and will let Toast follow him around, and only hisses when he gets too forward. Sundae still growls at him, but is no longer terrified (she stayed outside for a month when he first came). I've even caught a few nose boops between Toast and Tommy and Marshmallow.
Toast has learned how to communicate with me, and goes in and out all day. I think he's testing my limits. Now that it's cold, I make the cats all stay in at night. The other three cats sleep with me at night, but if Sundae is outside, Toast will be on my window table behind the bed when I nap. We are making progress.
Cyriak's Dancing Skeletons
Cyriak Harris already makes the creepiest animated videos on the 'net, so when he makes skeletons dance and releases it the day before Halloween, you know you're in for a really weird treat! this animation is called RIP. (via Laughing Squid)
Monday, October 19, 2026
When Tarzan Became an Old Man
We are used to a young and virile Tarzan swooping off to the jungle with Jane and assuming they lived happily ever after. But old age creeps up on all of us if we're lucky. It's possible that Tarzan was a lot older than Jane, or maybe she just held up better over time.
This skit was aired in 1962 on The Jack Benny Program. Carol Burnett plays Jane and introduces her Tarzan yell, which she brought back every once in a while on The Carol Burnett Show. Jack Benny, as always, was the butt of the joke. His very appearance was the joke, and Burnett got all the good lines. (Thanks, WTM!)