Herbie is a triangular cat. He came from an animal shelter with a rare condition that makes his ears stick out to the sides instead of standing up on his head, leaving him looking somewhat like Dobby the house elf. He can't move his ears. But even more concerning is that Herbie is unable to close his eyes! He doesn't blink, and he sleeps with his eyes open, although his third eyelid does give him some protection.
Herbie was diagnosed with bilateral facial nerve paralysis. He also has mild cerebellar hypoplasia, so he needs a special human to look after him. His foster mother became an expert at caring for him and now he's a permanent member of the family. You can see more of Herbie at Instagram.
Sunday, October 04, 2026
Herbie
Republican Campaign Ads
Trump is not running in the midterm elections, but his political power depends on every state, because he might lose one of the three branches he's got a stranglehold on now. Therefore, Saturday Night Live rounded up everyone in Washington they can impersonate to make campaign ads in last night's opening skit.
Saturday, October 03, 2026
Too Much Beer
"All you can drink" sounds like a very bad idea, but more bars than you'd think have tried this. See more at Weird Universe.
Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla
From Wikipedia:
Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla is a 1952 comedy film directed by William Beaudine and starring horror veteran Bela Lugosi and nightclub comedians Duke Mitchell and Sammy Petrillo in roles approximating Martin and Lewis.
Read Eddie Deezen's story about the making of this movie at Neatorama.
A Closed Door
If cats could talk, they'd be annoying. Always complaining, always wannting something, always judging you.Kind of like kids, except they can't talk, so we put up with them.
October Calendar
Matt Shirley's calendar for October is all about Halloween. I think he's based this on what happens every year, at least in his world. Halloween is a lot more enjoyable when you don't have kids, parties, decorations, and a house full of candy.
The History of the Witch Hat
When did a conical hat with a wide brim become associated with witches? The Hat Historian seems like a perfectly cromulent niche YouTube channel. Since it's October, he addresses the style of pop culture witches. Since you know witches aren't a real thing, and the many people who were executed on suspicion of being witches didn't wear such hats, it mainly comes down to a marker in art and movies to show us which one is a witch. But within that realm, there's a story to be told. Or several stories, actually, since there are various possible origins of the witch hat, which could have crossed over each other along the way.
How Knights in Shining Armor Really Fought
Norwegian history reenactor Ola Onsrud demonstrates how 14th-century knights battled while wearing full armor, or harness, as he calls it. It's nothing like the movies. A slashing motion will get you nowhere, so it doesn't even make sense to defend yourself like the sword fights we see in film. You can see more videos of armored hand-to-hand combat at Laughing Squid.
Orbital Inclination
That's it. When I hand anyone in my family a Christmas gift this year, I will announce that this is the box of unreasonable expectations. It's the latest from Tree Lobsters.
Friday, October 02, 2026
How They Made Casablamca
I love the movie Casablanca. I've always had a soft spot for movies that don't give us an all around happy ending. While Casablanca was a near perfect film, it was chaos while filming. No one knew how it was going to end, and the script was produced day to day as they shot footage. Even when it was finished, the ending was fiddled with, and they would have kept changing it if they could. You'll learn about that and more in this video. One part that really bothered me was when they were talking about actress Madeline Lebeau and kept showing images of Ingrid Bergman in her place, but overall I learned stuff.
Tom BetGeorge"s Halloween Light Show 2026
Tom BetGeorge has unveiled his annual Halloween light show at his home in California. It begins with his favorite movie, The Nightmare Before Christmas. The opening segment of the show "This is Halloween" uses computer synchronized music, strings of lights, lasers, drones, fire, water fountains, and projections all at once. The Jack O'Lantern in the sky is 400 feet tall, and the aerial Jack Skellington is almost as big. The second song in the show is a '90s hip hop compilation called Giant Lowrider in the Sky.
A third segment with the song "Sabotage"by the Beastie Boys premiers tonight at 9 Eastern.
Plausible
Who do you trust the most for accurate reporting: Russian sources, the Daily Mail, or Twitter? (via Bits and Pieces)
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