Category: True Stories

Holy Poop! We’re Four Years Old!

Yes, you got that right. On 3 August 2007, Tacky Raccoons belched itself into the blogosphere with little fanfare and a mere handful of hoopla. Now it’s 10PM on the eve of this auspicious occasion, and I’m caught with my pants down and my skirt over my head trying to figure out what to do with only two hours to go, so let’s do this.

Yeah it’s fuzzy until you click on it and see that we’re over 906,000 sharp views, and most of those are prolly Chinese and Russkie bots, but we’re holding strong at about 20K per month despite school being in recession. I don’t know wtf happened in October 2009, but I’ll roll with it.

Oh wait. I know. Let’s have another rundown of the most popular posts for the last year, just like we’ve done for the past three years.

So here are the Top 11 of the past twelve months, with last year’s rankings separated by an appropriate slash. nr = no rating,  indicating that the post either didn’t make rank or wasn’t posted last year. Click on the images to see the original posts.

This year, we’re gonna start with No. 11 because it’s only been up for a short while, but got a wad of hits.

No. 11/nr- The .Gif Friday Post No. 185 – 80 Beetles

No. 10/nr – The .Gif Friday Post No. 145 – The End, Near Miss, Cat Attack

No. 9/nr -Pre-ChatRoulette FAIL

No. 8/5- Lesbian Amputee Dwarf Porn

No. 7/3 -Giant Woolly Bear Caterpillar Discovered Near Las Cruces, NM, Predicts Global Warming for Decades to Come

No. 6/nr -The .Gif Friday Post No. 93 – Cat Fish Robot Jam

No. 5/nr -The .Gif Friday Post No. 108 – Eat It, Walk It, Pump It

No. 4/nr -Death Row Barbie

No. 3/4 -LOL Ferret Episode 1

No. 2/2 -Amy’s Motivational Poster Collection

No. 1/nr – Capybara Lapwarmer

I gotta tell you, I’d never have guessed that Ms. Capylady would make the top ten, let alone make it to Number One on the 2011 Tacky Raccoons Hit Parade.

I’ve traded a couple of emails with Ms. C since this was first posted, and I congratulate her on her meteoric rise to the coveted position on the TR Top Ten.

And that’s exactly what makes blogging fun.  In four years, I still don’t know what’s gonna get a hit. I just toss out whatever amuses me, and I’m happy that some of it amuses you, too.

Your pal Bunk

Lightening the Load

These are the kinds of pictures that make me smile. It is also irrefutable proof that not all bears shit in the woods, and that some bears sing while taking care of business. Then it occurred to me to follow some of the links on SG’s site, and I found a map. Continue reading “Lightening the Load”

Spittlebugs In The Rosemary

Spittlebug, Spittlebug
Does whatever a Spittlebug does…

…like suck on the missus’ rosemary bush and make little foamy things to hide its sorry-ass nymphy self.

There are spittlebugs in the rosemary. This is serious, at least according to the missus, but I looked into it. They make little foamy nests in the crooks of the stems to hide from predators and to keep from drying out, while they suck juices from the stems of the host plant. They are the nymph stage of froghoppers, and although they can do temporary damage to the host plant, they usually die off in a couple of weeks.

The nymph that I uncovered today was the shape of a small ladybug, about 1/16th of an inch long. It was black on the front and yellow on the rear – half and half. Treating the infestation means hitting the little foaming bastards with the hose, or just ignoring them.

To be truthful, that’s a TUBE Spittlebug in the picture. The spittlebug nymph that I examined today looks nothing like it. I’m sure I pissed him off when I got him on my fingernail to eyeball him, because the look he gave me back, well, let’s just say he wished he was bigger so he could kick my ass.

In any case, he got PWND big time, yet was released to foam again… somewhere else.

[Image found via teh google.]

WTF is a Fire Duck?

Yep. That’s a WTF Duck Sled for sure, and it’s a bonafide Babe Magnet. I want a fleet of ’em. [More photos here.]

Meet The Beetles

[Found here. Lots more below the break.]

[UPDATE 31 July 2016- I disabled the source link as it now redirects to a malware site. The source of the image is likely a fold-out from National Geographic. Apologies to all. –Bunk] Continue reading “Meet The Beetles”

Saturday Matinee – The Starwars Zone, Keith Richards, Chuck Berry, Johnny Johnson, Silvan Zingg & Johnny Winter

[Found here.]

Poor Keith. Just couldn’t follow directions. Johnny Johnson‘s blank stares are great.

Here’s Johnny Johnson’s version of Meade Lux Lewis‘ “Honky Tonk Train Blues.”

Here I was thinking that Pinetop Smith wrote HTTB, and the wiki proved me wrong just in time. Unfortunately there are no videos of Pinetop Smith in action, but Silvan Zingg is awesome. From Switzerland, here’s “Pinetop’s Boogie Woogie.”

Now how to wrap this up…

Yep, Johnny Winter‘s “Mojo Boogie” does it. Have a great weekend, folks and be back here for more fun tomorrow.

Feng’s Fun Facts

[Found here. Sometimes Feng amazes me.]

Independence Day 4 July 1918

I might have posted these before. They are envelopes decorated by my great-grandfather and mailed to his son (my grand-uncle) who was stationed in France in the U.S. Signal Corps in WWI. Walter received them on 10 August 1918, and replied with this letter:

“…I saw a peach of an air battle last night. Believe me that is exciting stuff to see them diving and darting around like a couple of birds. That’s about all I can tell you. I can’t tell you who licked. Some of the best fliers are located near us. I guess there are a few “aces” among the bunch.

…Pap says the war will be over in a year making it July 4th 1919. I don’t want to shatter his hopes but I think about the fall of 1920 myself. That is simply my estimate. Maybe last longer or maybe  not as long.”

Late last year I asked Walter’s daughter if she’d allow me to post her father’s letters, in sequence beginning in February 1918, as if in real time. For personal reasons she declined, and I’ll respect her wishes.

Meanwhile, I hope all of you still have the same number of fingers and toes as you did yesterday at this time.

Independence Day

In Congress, July 4, 1776,

THE UNANIMOUS DECLARATION OF THE THIRTEEN UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume, among the Powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. Continue reading “Independence Day”

Captain Kangaroo 1927-2004 [Updated]

Captain Kangaroo, aka Bob Keeshan, was my favorite as a lil’ tad. There he is, with a pocket full of carrots, and Bunny Rabbit in the other. My memory of Cap’n K does not include that screaming red jacket. It had to be blue, because I watched him every day in glorious black and white. Now check this out:

Yep. Captain Kangaroo liked Heineken. BTW, the urban legend is false – Bob Keeshan did NOT fight on Iwo Jima in WWII, and neither did Lee Marvin, although both were Marines.  Film at 11.

[Update: Apparently that photo is from a Halloween party circa 1980 something, and is not Bob Keeshan. It’s still awesome. Hat tip to Dave.]

[UPDATE 2023: The Full Story!]