Fun Friday: Nothing Can Stop This Hedgehog!

Hedgehog has an accident at home that paralyzes his rear legs.

Until ExZooTicVet give him — well, see for yourself.

The Cutest Hedgehog — er, Flu Shot Commercial Ever

Click here to watch it in good quality.

Thanks, Daily Motion!

Hedgehog in the Fog

Enjoy this lovely, award-winning video, "Hedgehog in the Fog," by Yuriy Norshteyn.

Abe-y, Baby!

And the answer is: Abe!

May I introduce you to Abraham Hedgehog, known as "Abe" to his friends.  (Stovepipe hat and yarmukule optional.)

I know the proposed names were completely different.  What can I say?  When a name speaks to me, I have no choice but to go with it.

Thank you for your suggestions and your participation in the naming process.

And welcome to the charming, cute little puppet Abe!

Bruno, Rico or Jacques? You Decide!

Three names are in the running for this little cutie:

Bruno


Rico


or


Jacques


Help name this hedgehog: leave your vote in the comment section.  Vote early, vote often!

Name This Hedghog!

When our eyes met at Borders, I knew it was love.

I could tell by the look in his eyes the feeling was mutual.

We couldn't wait.  He came home with me that night, and we've been inseparable ever since.

Now that he's a member of this family, only one question remains: what will his name be?

You, yes YOU, can name this hedgehog!  The person who submits the winning submission will receive a book.  (I know, that's a surprise.)

Submit your suggestions — as many as you want to offer — either in the comments below or in an e-mail.

Please submit your suggestions by 11:59 p.m. July 30, and I will choose the little puppet's name August 1.

Dream big, and let's see if we can't give his true name — the name he deserves!

Be Thankful: A "Squeeeeee!" Moment

You're welcome.

And thanks to Cute Overload (and sender-inner Beatriz) for such a great image! Truly a resource and sense of humor for which to be thankful.

BBC News: Hedgehog joke wins comedy prize

EDINBURGH, Scotland (BBC) — Comedian Dan Antopolski has won a prize for the funniest joke of this year's Edinburgh Fringe.

The Top 10 jokes were judged to be:

• 1) Dan Antopolski - "Hedgehogs - why can't they just share the hedge?"

• 2) Paddy Lennox - "I was watching the London Marathon and saw one runner dressed as a chicken and another runner dressed as an egg. I thought: 'This could be interesting'."

• 3) Sarah Millican - "I had my boobs measured and bought a new bra. Now I call them Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes because they're up where they belong."

• 4) Zoe Lyons - "I went on a girls' night out recently. The invitation said 'dress to kill'. I went as Rose West."

• 5) Jack Whitehall - "I'm sure wherever my dad is; he's looking down on us. He's not dead, just very condescending."

• 6) Adam Hills - "Going to Starbucks for coffee is like going to prison for sex. You know you're going to get it, but it's going to be rough."

• 7) Marcus Brigstocke - "To the people who've got iPhones: you just bought one, you didn't invent it!"

• 8) Rhod Gilbert - "A spa hotel? It's like a normal hotel, only in reception there's a picture of a pebble."

• 9) Dan Antopolski - "I've been reading the news about there being a civil war in Madagascar. Well, I've seen it six times and there isn't."

• 10) Simon Brodkin (as Lee Nelson) - "I started so many fights at my school - I had that attention-deficit disorder. So I didn't finish a lot of them."

The judges also listed some of the worst jokes at this year's Fringe.

• Carey Marx - "I'm not doing any Michael Jackson jokes, because they always involve puns about his songs. And that's bad."

• Frank Woodley - "I phoned the swine flu hotline and all I got was crackling."

• Alex Maple - "Michael Jackson only invented the moonwalk so he could sneak up on children."

• Phil Nichol - "She's got a face like a rare Chinese vase - minging."

• Alistair McGowan - "I've just split up from my girlfriend, which is a shame, because it was a long-standing arrangement. Perhaps if we'd sat down a bit more..."

You Knew it Was Coming: A Hedgehog Poem

Hedgehog Lament
A woodpecker heard hedgehog shout

A hedgehog once got stuck in a tree,
Through how he got there quite beats me.
His prickles so long,
And his body so fat.
He just couldn't budge,
So he sat and he sat.

A woodpecker heard hedgehog shout:
"Will someone kind please help me out!
My prickles are long,
And my body is fat.
I can't even budge,
What is sadder than that?"

The woodpecker chirped: "Goodness me,
I'll have to peck into this tree.
His prickles are long,
And he is ever so slow.
He's not going to budge,
If I don't have a go!"

He pecked round the hedgehog until
He'd freed every prickly quill.
Before very long,
Hedgehog's tight groove
Had loosened its grip,
And at last he could move!

The Hedgehog said: "Thank you from me,
Now, woodpecker, come home to tea.
My prickles are long,
And my body is fat.
But I can cook well-
What is better than that?"

by Porter G., Hilda Offen, Pradera, Esme Eve, Alan Jesset, Richard Hooke
With thanks to 4to40.com

Chris' Top Five Time Spenders — er, Web Sites

The following Web sites have no real redeeming qualities.

Having said that, I have been known to spend hours there. In fact, I'm sure I could have written the Great American Novel (had I been so inclined) in the time I have spent at these sites. I share them with you so you also can spend hours pursuing amusement on the Internet.

1. Best of Craigslist
These are for real. Honest-to-goodness people wrote these, probably not with the intention of them winding up on this site — but thank heavens they did. Read them aloud, if you can. Frankly, I'm too busy gasping and laughing to finish a sentence. It gives me inspiration.

2. List Universe
I cannot read just one. (Thanks, JFrater!) Nope, I open multiple tabs with multiple lists, then choose more lists from the "suggested lists" at the end of the lists. Lost yet? You will be, in wonder, when you visit this site. Don't say I didn't warn you!

3. Lord of the Peeps: Fellowship of the Peeps
I don't eat Peeps. They amuse me and remind me of my friends, the Strolling Peeps. And I am a Lord of the Rings fanatic. Put these together and you have a site that amazes me how adults spend time with dioramas and marshmallow treats.

4. CuteOverload
I tamed a roomful of possible enemy combatants with the photos and videos of kittens, puppies and, yes, hedgehogs on this Web site. (Where do you think the obsession started?) This site has added many words to my lexicon, including nom, Caturday, 'tocks and Bunday. There are some days when I leave this Web site visible on the South Monitor at work because I need dabs of cuteness during the day. I also "borrow" many of the photos for screensavers — and like watching the faces of people in a meeting as they look over my shoulder at some of the cutest photos on the planet popping up on my monitors. Thanks, Meg!

5. YouTube
I know I am not alone in this obsession. How else can a woman of the '80s watch music videos? Nickelback and Weird Al Yankovic post their videos on this site, and I am eternally grateful. (So do Britney Spears and Fergie, but they're my secret indulgences — shhhh!) And yet it's so much more. I have watched Miss South Carolina 2007 embarrass herself, I have watched Matt dance in front of the Taj Mahal and dance with tribesmen in Papau, New Guinea, I have watched Jordan dance in my hometown (in tribute to Matt), I have watched Uni the Hedgehog. I could go on and on, but you get the gist. Type in any word and there's a video for it. Go ahead and try it.

What are some of your favorite sites?